Fundamental analysis: 5 must-have tools for valuing stocks

This page is sponsored by Moomoo, a stock trading app featuring real-time financial data and comprehensive news to help you invest confidently.

You should never purchase a stock if you don’t know the company. And you often don’t need to look much further than a company’s financials to determine whether it’s a practical fit for your portfolio. To get the job done, you’ll need the right tools — tools you can access through Moomoo’s trading platform to help you conduct high-quality fundamental analysis.

First up: What’s fundamental analysis?

Fundamental analysis is a method of valuing a stock based on financial data and the company’s history, like its balance sheet, revenue, profitability and earnings per share. A stock’s price isn’t always an accurate representation of its value. Some stocks are overvalued — others are undervalued. Fundamental analysis can help you uncover a stock’s true value to identify prime opportunities for long-term growth.
Fundamental analysis is one of two ways to value stocks. The other method — typically employed by active traders — is technical analysis. This form of analysis relies on sophisticated charting tools to analyze a stock’s price history and movement. Technical analysis can be useful, but is better suited to short-term trades rather than long-term investments.

5 tools to use when valuing stocks

High-quality tools are the key to well-informed trading decisions. If you’re frustrated by the limited research options offered by beginner apps like Robinhood and M1 Finance, it may be time to explore what Moomoo has to offer. These five fundamental analysis tools are ideal for the value investor seeking top-notch data.

1. Company financials

Company data goes far beyond its valuation and share price. To get an accurate picture of a company’s financial health, you need to dig into the details. And, sure, you could chase down the stats across third-party market research platforms like Finviz, Morningstar and Yahoo Finance. Or you could tap into Moomoo’s real-time data across each of the following metrics:

• Valuation. Get a sense of how much the company is worth in the eyes of the overall market.
• Balance sheets. Browse quarterly or annual balance sheets for a broad overview of current assets, liabilities and shareholder equity.
• Cashflow statements. Review operating, investing and financing cash flow to see how the company’s money moves.
• Earnings per share (EPS). Find out how profitable a company is on a per-share basis.
• Price-to-earnings ratio (P/E). Review how the company’s stock measures up to its earnings per share.
• Price-to-book ratio (P/B). Compare the company’s market value with its book value — the net value of its assets.
• Price-to-sales ratio (P/S). Review the company’s revenue multiple by putting its stock value and revenue head to head.
• Analyst ratings. Explore analyst ratings to track whether the stock is under- or over-performing month over month.
• Revenue. Get a detailed breakdown of revenue composition by business category and region.
• Return on equity (ROE). Explore charted year-over-year ROE trends for an accurate look at how a company makes use of its resources.

Moomoo offers access to all of this data and more — plus, it charts the stats to help you visualize the data without ever having to crunch the numbers yourself.

2. Real-time heat lists

Get a big-picture overview of market performance with heat lists. Moomoo’s heat lists help you gauge market performance across US, Canadian and Hong Kong markets in real time. Data is shown in green and red to help you quickly zero in on the type of investment you’re seeking. Browse trade, search and news heat lists to identify stocks with forward momentum.

3. 24/7 financial news

The market waits for no one — and staying on top of industry-impacting news events is a vital part of value investing.
Moomoo ensures that its traders never miss a beat with market news that’s updated around the clock:

• • News headlines. Explore announcements from major news sources like MarketWatch, InvestorPlace, Dow Jones, Benzinga, Bloomberg and more.

Why? Major market and industry news has the potential to affect the value of a company’s stock — and your portfolio.

• • Earnings calendar. Track upcoming earnings reports across companies you’re interested in.

Why? Earnings reports act as a temperature gauge, helping interested investors and shareholders alike assess the company’s financial health.

• • IPO calendar. Stay on top of companies slotted for public release.

Why? IPOs are a popular investment vehicle, and half the battle for an interested investor is knowing when and where an IPO will price.

• • Dividend/stock split calendar. Learn about which companies are expecting dividend payouts or stock splits.

Why? Stock splits affect the value of shares, and dividends are an important asset to track for income investors.

4. Stock compare

This Moomoo research tool allows you to pit two or more stocks against each other to directly compare their data and performance. See how multiple stocks stack up across numerous metrics, including:

Review data from one month to three years and view color-coded price trends by company for a quick overview of how they compare.

5. Institutional holdings

If you’re looking for inspiration from the pros, look no further than Moomoo’s Star Institutions feature. It allows you to learn from top institutions like Bridgewater Holdings, Soros Holdings, Renaissance Technologies, Capital Research and more by tapping into their holdings to see what they invest in.

Can I test out these features before committing to Moomoo?

Even without an account, there’s quite a lot you can explore from Moomoo’s homepage, including market quotes, IPO data, top-performing stocks, market cap rankings, heat lists — even a screener for stocks across US, Canadian and Hong Kong markets. But to explore the true depth and breadth of what Moomoo has to offer, you’ll need to create an account.
The good news is that Moomoo doesn’t impose any minimum deposit requirements, and the signup process only takes a few minutes to complete. You can create an account from Moomoo’s website or its mobile app.

3 more value investing perks with Moomoo

Moomoo goes above and beyond the five fundamental tools for value investors with three additional perks to help investors get the most from their trading experience.

Educational courses

Moomoo’s free educational courses are grouped into the following categories:

• Stocks. Learn about stock basics, IPO investing, fundamental analysis, technical analysis, valuation analysis and more.
• Options. Read through an introduction to options trades, explore how options work and learn how to read an options table.
• Funds. Dive into ETF basics and strategies, then further your knowledge with information on daily leverage certificates and real estate investment trusts.
• Moomoo tutorials. Get the most out of your Moomoo experience by exploring the ins and outs of the platform.
• Perspectives. Learn about crypto basics, economic indicators, the Federal Reserve and more.

Community discussion board

Moomoo’s community discussion board has more than 100,000 daily active users. And it’s here that you’ll have the opportunity to connect with fellow Moomoo traders on an active discussion board. Discuss trades, trending topics, market news and strategy with like-minded investors from around the world.

Free Nasdaq Level 2 market data

Signing up for a Moomoo account also comes with free real-time Nasdaq Level 2 market data.

How to sign up for Moomoo

The signup process can be completed on Moomoo’s homepage or mobile app in a matter of minutes.

1. Go to Moomoo’s homepage and select Open Account.
2. Enter your phone number and the Moomoo verification code sent to your mobile device.
3. Review Moomoo’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service and select Sign Up.
4. Create a password, then enter your email address.
5. Enter your full name, phone number, residential address and Social Security number. Select Next.
6. Answer Moomoo’s financial questions about your income, net worth and investment goals. Select Next.
7. Review Moomoo’s Risk Disclosure statement and enter your online signature. Select Submit.

Bottom line

The better-informed your trade, the less risk you invite into your investment portfolio. Sign up for a Moomoo account today to access all the tools you need to conduct high-quality fundamental analysis.

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