Learn

Every number on this site is computed from SEC filings using a formula you can inspect. The guides below explain the frameworks — how to read a 10-K, what quality means, how price encodes expectations — and the reference covers each metric: its formula, why it matters, what good looks like, and when it misleads.

Start here: how to use MarketMath →

The six concepts that carry everything (CAGR, FCF, yields, DCF, reverse DCF, quality) in plain language, then three worked workflows: judging one company in ten minutes, finding ideas with the screener, and choosing between rivals.

Guides

Frameworks for using the metrics together

Reading a 10-K

The three financial statements, which of our metrics comes from each, and why we build everything from SEC filings.

What makes a business high quality

The traits of durable businesses, how our 0–100 quality score encodes them, and Peter Lynch's six company categories.

Valuation basics

Multiples and their inverse yields, comparing against bonds, why cash flow beats earnings, and the 10x operating cash flow anchor.

Expectations investing: the reverse DCF

Price equals embedded expectations. Read the growth assumption out of the market cap and judge its plausibility against history.

Reading the red flags

What each automated warning checks, why the threshold sits where it does, and how to investigate a triggered flag.

Capital allocation

Dividends, buybacks, dilution, stock compensation, reinvestment efficiency, and debt — and how to read the discipline metrics together.

Metric reference

Every metric MarketMath computes, grouped by what it measures

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3y / 5y / 10y)The compound annual growth rate of revenue over roughly the last 3, 5, and 10 fiscal years.EPS CAGR (5y / 10y)The compound annual growth rate of diluted earnings per share over roughly 5 and 10 years.Free cash flow CAGR (5y / 10y)The compound annual growth rate of free cash flow over roughly 5 and 10 years.

Profitability

Gross marginThe share of revenue left after the direct cost of producing what was sold.Operating marginThe share of revenue left after all costs of running the business, before interest and taxes.Net marginThe share of revenue that ends up as bottom-line profit.FCF marginThe share of revenue converted into free cash flow after all operating costs and capital spending.

Returns on capital

Return on equity (ROE)Net income earned per dollar of shareholders' equity in the latest fiscal year.Return on assets (ROA)Net income earned per dollar of total assets.Cash ROIC (OCF on invested capital)Operating cash flow generated per dollar of invested capital (equity plus long-term debt).Sales efficiency (capex per $1 of new revenue)How many dollars of additional property, plant, and equipment the company needed to generate each additional dollar of annual revenue over roughly five years.Capital intensity (PP&E ÷ revenue)How large the fixed-asset base is relative to a year of revenue.

Balance sheet

Debt to equityLong-term debt relative to shareholders' equity.Debt to free cash flowHow many years of current free cash flow it would take to repay all long-term debt.Cash to debtCash and equivalents relative to long-term debt.

Capital returns

Dividend yieldCash dividends paid over the latest fiscal year as a percentage of the current market cap.Buyback yieldCash spent repurchasing shares over the latest fiscal year as a percentage of market cap.Shareholder yieldTotal cash returned to shareholders — dividends plus buybacks — as a percentage of market cap.FCF payout ratioThe share of free cash flow consumed by dividends and buybacks in the latest fiscal year.Share count change (5y)The annualized rate of change in diluted shares outstanding over roughly the last five years.SBC to FCFStock-based compensation as a share of free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.

Valuation

Price to earnings (P/E)Market cap as a multiple of the latest fiscal year's net income.Price to free cash flow (P/FCF)Market cap as a multiple of the latest fiscal year's free cash flow.Price to sales (P/S)Market cap as a multiple of the latest fiscal year's revenue.Price to book (P/B)Market cap as a multiple of the accounting book value of shareholders' equity.Earnings yieldThe latest fiscal year's net income as a percentage of market cap — the P/E turned upside down.FCF yieldFree cash flow as a percentage of market cap — the cash return the business generates at today's price.OCF yield on enterprise valueOperating cash flow as a percentage of enterprise value (market cap plus debt minus cash).Market cap vs 10× OCFThe current market cap as a ratio of ten times operating cash flow — a fixed anchor for spotting inexpensive cash generators.Owner earningsBuffett's estimate of the cash an owner could actually withdraw each year: operating cash flow minus capital spending minus stock compensation.

Interpretation

Reverse DCF: implied FCF growthThe annual free-cash-flow growth rate the current market cap silently assumes, solved from a standard discounted-cash-flow model.Lynch classificationA growth-based label — slow grower, stalwart, or fast grower — following Peter Lynch's company categories.Quality score (0–100)A composite 0–100 score summarizing profitability, growth, consistency, balance-sheet strength, and capital discipline.Checklist scoreRoughly thirty explicit pass/fail checks across growth, profitability, balance sheet, capital allocation, and valuation, scored as the share passed.Red flag: revenue decliningTriggered when the latest fiscal year's revenue fell more than 3% below the prior year's.Red flag: negative free cash flowTriggered when operating cash flow did not cover capital expenditures in the latest fiscal year.Red flag: net lossTriggered when the company reported negative net income in the latest fiscal year.Red flag: heavy debt loadTriggered when long-term debt exceeds five years of free cash flow.Red flag: heavy stock compensationTriggered when stock-based compensation exceeds 30% of free cash flow.Red flag: shareholder dilutionTriggered when the diluted share count has grown by more than 2% per year over roughly five years.Red flag: distributions exceed FCFTriggered when dividends plus buybacks exceeded free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.Red flag: margin compressionTriggered when gross margin has fallen more than 5 percentage points versus three fiscal years ago.