Thread by @BrianFeroldi

How to analyze a:

▪️Balance Sheet
▪️Income Statement
▪️Cash Flow Statement

In less than 5 minutes:

Every company has 3 financial statements.

Each answers a unique question:

1. Balance Sheet: What’s your net worth?

2. Income Statement: Are you profitable?

3. Cash Flow Statement: Are you generating cash?

1A: Balance Sheet

This tells you a company’s net worth at a specific point in time.

Layout:

1B: What I focus on first:

1⃣ Cash & Equivalents: How much?
2⃣ Debt: How much vs. cash?
3⃣ Goodwill: How much?
4⃣ Retained Earnings (+ T.S.): Positive?
5⃣ Receivables & Inventory: How much?

1C: Best Possible Answers

1⃣Cash & Equivalents: More than debt
2⃣Short & Long-Debt: None
3⃣Goodwill: Zero
4⃣Retained Earnings (+ T.S.): Positive
5⃣ Receivables & Inventory: None

2A: The Income Statement

This tells you if a company is “profitable” or not during a period of time

Layout:

2B: I look at 2 income statements with comparable periods.

What I focus on first:
1⃣Revenue: Up or down?
2⃣Gross Profit: Up or down?
3⃣EPS (Diluted): Positive or negative?
4⃣Shares Outstanding: Up or down?
5⃣Operating Expenses: Up or down?

2C: Best Possible Answers

1⃣Revenue: Up 30%+
2⃣Gross Profit: Up 30%+
3⃣EPS: Up 30%+
4⃣Shares Outstanding: Down 4%+
5⃣Operating Expenses: Stable

3A: The Cash Flow Statement

This tells you how cash moves in and out of a business over a period of time.

Layout:

3B: What I focus on first:

1⃣OCF: Positive or negative?
2⃣CapEx: More or less than OCF?
3⃣NCC: Any big numbers? S.B.C.?
4⃣Stock: Issuance or buybacks?
5⃣Debt: Borrow or repay?

3C: Best possible answers

1⃣ OCF: Positive (+ Growing)
2⃣CapEx: Much less than OCF
3⃣NCC: Nothing noteworthy + Low SBC
4⃣Stock: Buybacks ✅
5⃣Debt: Repayment✅

I’d never make an investment decision without MUCH more analysis than this.

Accounting (and investing) is FILLED with nuance

Still, with <1 minute of analysis per financial statement, you can quickly identify a company's strengths + weaknesses

If you invest, you MUST learn accounting

Want to level up your skills?

Enroll in my free, 5-day email course - Financial Statements School

Check it out here (It's free) -> longtermmindset.co/fss

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