Market MedalsWhat a medal means
One quick answer to a big question: how does this company stand next to all the others? A medal is where the story starts, not where it ends.
Gold
Three things have to be true at once. The analysts who follow the company rate it among the very best we cover - both next to its own industry and next to the whole market. Its shares are on a strong run. And the profits it reports are turning up as real cash, not just as numbers on paper.
Silver
Analysts think highly of it, just a notch below the gold tier. A company that has the analysts' backing for gold but misses one of the other two tests gets silver too.
Bronze
Well thought of - still ahead of most of the market, a step behind the leaders.
When a medal slips
Being liked isn't everything. When the business itself looks weak - poor quality, little growth and fading shares, all at once - the medal drops a step. The reverse never happens: a strong business can't buy its way up.
The chilli 🌶️
Handle with care. The chilli marks a company the analysts are among the gloomiest about, or one where the business, the shares and the analysts all sit near the bottom.
No medal
Most companies we rate hold no medal - the podium is for the three in ten the analysts back most strongly - and no medal is no warning: that is what our chilli is for. A company no analyst follows isn't rated at all.
The other side of the medal
Every medal has a back. For each company we name the risk to keep watching: the thing that would change the story. Where there is no medal, we name what would put the company on the podium; where there is a chilli, what needs to go right. You'll find it in every episode and every report.
The exact rules
- Medals rank companies by analyst sentiment, twice: within their sector (where at least 10 companies are rated) and across every stock we rate.
- Gold: the top 10% on sentiment, and also momentum above 0.70 and negative accruals - profits backed by cash. A company in the top 10% that fails either receives silver.
- Silver: the 80th to 90th percentile on sentiment. Bronze: the 70th to 80th.
- A medal moves down one step when quality, growth and momentum together rank in the worst 20%. They can never move a medal up.
- 🌶️ marks risk: quality, momentum and sentiment together in the bottom 10%, or sentiment alone in the bottom 10%. A company marked 🌶️ holds no medal, in its sector or across the market.
- Unrated: no analyst sentiment score is available, so the company is not ranked at all.
The lists, the day they're out
Each month's Conviction 10 and Gold Income 10 - every name, and the report on each - in your inbox the day they are published. Free while we launch.