Fundamental Analysis Basics

Fundamental Analysis Hub

Use this hub to understand financial statements, core company metrics, valuation ratios, and how to turn that knowledge into better screening decisions on QuantJuice.

4usage steps
3 readout notes
Open Fundamental Analysis Hub

Use the live page first, then tighten your review using this playbook.

These guide pages are designed to help you move from raw output to better shortlist decisions faster and with more confidence.

Open Fundamental Screener Investor Guidebook

Overview

Fundamental analysis asks whether the business is healthy, growing, resilient, and sensibly priced.
The best research combines business quality, valuation, and market behavior instead of relying on any one ratio alone.
QuantJuice screeners help you move from raw fundamentals to investable shortlists faster, but the terms still need to be understood properly.

How to use Fundamental Analysis Hub

1

Read the statements in order

Start with the income statement for growth and margins, then the balance sheet for resilience, and finally the cash flow statement for the quality of earnings.

2

Translate raw numbers into ratios

Ratios like P/E, debt-to-equity, operating margin, and current ratio help you compare companies faster, but only after the raw business context is understood.

3

Separate quality from price paid

A great business is not automatically a great investment if the market is already charging too much for it.

4

Use the right QuantJuice screener for the job

Use growth tools when you want execution, value tools when you want price discipline, and combined tools when you want both.

Use this on QuantJuice

Open the page that matches the job you are trying to do instead of forcing one tool to answer every question.

PE and EBITDA Screener

Best for a quick first-pass universe based on valuation, EBITDA scale, and market-cap boundaries.

Open PE and EBITDA Screener

Value Screener

Best when you want stricter valuation and balance-sheet discipline.

Open Value Screener

Growth Screener

Best when you want revenue, earnings, and margin improvement instead of only cheapness.

Open Growth Screener

GARP Screener

Best when you want growth filtered through valuation discipline and relative strength.

Open GARP Screener

Stock Valuation

Best when you want a company-level detail page rather than a cross-market shortlist.

Open Stock Valuation

Helpful references

Use these external references when a term needs deeper background than is practical to place on one page.

Income statement

Helpful if you want the full accounting background behind revenue, operating income, and net income.

Wikipedia

Balance sheet

Useful for understanding assets, liabilities, and shareholder equity in plain accounting terms.

Wikipedia

Cash flow statement

Useful for understanding operating cash flow, capex, and why free cash flow matters.

Wikipedia

PEG ratio

A good reference when you want the growth-adjusted extension of P/E.

Wikipedia

Benjamin Graham

Useful background on classic value investing and the origin of the margin-of-safety idea.

Wikipedia

The three financial statements

Read them as one story: profit, resilience, and cash conversion.

Statement What it contains Why it matters Best QuantJuice use
Income statement Revenue, gross profit, operating profit, net income, EPS Shows whether the business is growing and how efficiently it turns sales into profit Growth Screener, Value Screener, Stock Valuation
Balance sheet Cash, debt, receivables, inventory, assets, liabilities, equity Shows resilience, leverage, and whether the business can absorb stress Value Screener, Benjamin Graham view, Stock Valuation
Cash flow statement Operating cash flow, capex, free cash flow, financing flows Shows whether earnings are being converted into real cash Stock Valuation, Portfolio Horoscope, Value research

Core terms, derivation, and what they tell you

These are some of the most useful fundamental building blocks for screening and company review.

Term Plain derivation Why analysts care Broad starting range
Revenue growth (Current revenue - prior revenue) / prior revenue Shows whether demand and company scale are expanding 10% to 20% for steady growers, 20%+ for faster growth stories
Operating margin Operating income / revenue Shows how efficiently sales turn into core profit Higher is usually better within the same sector
EPS Net income / diluted shares outstanding Shows profit on a per-share basis for owners Positive and improving is healthier than unstable or shrinking EPS
Debt / equity Total debt / shareholder equity Shows how much leverage supports the business Below 1 is often safer, but sector context matters
Current ratio Current assets / current liabilities Shows near-term liquidity strength Around 1.2 to 2.0 is a common comfort zone
Free cash flow Operating cash flow - capital expenditure Shows how much cash remains after reinvestment needs Positive and rising tends to improve quality perception
P/E Price per share / EPS Shows what the market is paying for current earnings Compare inside sector and growth context only
PEG P/E / EPS growth rate Shows whether the price paid is balanced against growth Around 0.8 to 1.8 is often a workable starting zone

Where to find each idea on QuantJuice

Use the page that answers the question fastest instead of forcing every question into one screener.

What you want to know Best page Why that page fits
Cheap but financially stable names Value Screener Combines valuation discipline with balance-sheet filters.
Fast business growth Growth Screener Focuses on revenue, earnings, and margin expansion.
Growth at a reasonable price GARP Screener Balances growth, valuation, and relative strength.
Business quality behind a breakout Breakout + Fundamentals Helps separate stronger technical breakouts from weaker ones.
Deep company-by-company valuation review Stock Valuation Best for inspecting fair-value context and ratio detail.
A fast public first-pass filter PE and EBITDA Screener Useful when you want a manageable starting universe quickly.

Valuation lenses beyond the first ratio

Different valuation styles answer different questions, so the best workflow is often to compare more than one lens.

Lens Core idea Best use case Best QuantJuice path
P/E What the market pays for current earnings Fast first-pass valuation checks on profitable businesses PE and EBITDA Screener, Stock Valuation
PEG What the market pays for earnings after adjusting for growth Comparing growth businesses with different valuation levels GARP Screener, Growth Screener
Classic Graham Margin of safety, balance-sheet discipline, and conservative multiples Conservative value hunting and financially sturdy businesses Value Screener, Benjamin Graham guide
Modern Graham Margin of safety plus cash flow quality, durability, and business resilience Value investing that also respects quality and structural change Value Screener, Stock Valuation, GARP Screener
DCF Present value of future free cash flow Longer-term intrinsic value work on stable businesses Stock Valuation, Portfolio Horoscope

How predictability really works

Fundamental data is most predictive when it reflects a repeatable business model rather than a temporary spike.

Recurring revenue and stable margins improve confidence.
Cash flow confirmation improves confidence because it reduces accounting noise.
Metrics lose predictive power when the company is cyclical, overleveraged, or reshaping its capital base.

A clean QuantJuice workflow

Start with PE and EBITDA or Value Screener to narrow the universe.
Promote the strongest names into Growth, GARP, or Breakout + Fundamentals depending on your style.
Open Stock Valuation for the final company-level review before making a decision.

Benjamin Graham versus a modern Graham-style approach

Benjamin Graham focused on financial safety, low prices relative to conservative value, and buying with a margin of safety. A modern Graham-style investor usually keeps those principles, but pays more attention to cash flow durability, business quality, and how intangible-heavy companies should be judged in today’s market.

Classic Graham is stricter on low multiples, book value, liquidity, and debt control.
Modern Graham still wants cheapness, but usually avoids value traps by checking cash generation, business durability, and whether management can reinvest sensibly.
That is why QuantJuice can use more than one path: Value Screener for traditional discipline, GARP for valuation plus growth, and Stock Valuation for company-level scenario review.

What to prioritize in the output

Revenue growth without margin quality can be less useful than slower but cleaner growth.
Strong earnings with weak cash conversion deserve caution.
Balance-sheet strength matters more when markets or sectors become unstable.

Common mistakes to avoid

Reading one headline metric without the rest of the statements.
Comparing different sectors on raw ratios alone.
Ignoring price action after building a fundamentally interesting shortlist.

Best way to use this playbook

Use the page to narrow the market quickly, then promote only the strongest chart-plus-context setups into your active watchlist or research queue.

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