About the 25-Point Scorecard
Every deep report closes with a 25-point scorecard - a structured pass over the qualitative side of the business that hard financial screens tend to miss: how the company actually makes money, how durable the product is, and what the surrounding environment looks like. Each item is a binary judgement: 1 = met or 0 = not met. The sum across the three categories is the final score out of 25.
Why a structured qualitative pass
Some of the most important things about a stock do not reduce to a ratio: the durability of the product, the quality of management, where category demand is heading, how the company stacks up against competitors. Many investors either skip these questions because they feel subjective, or answer them ad hoc on whichever ones happen to come to mind. The scorecard runs the same 25 checks against every company, so the qualitative read of one report is directly comparable to the next.
The checks are deliberately specific. They force the model to commit on things like pricing power, network effects, or category demand growth, instead of waving at them in a paragraph. Every yes or no carries a written justification and an inline citation, so the reasoning is auditable rather than opaque.
The 25 checks
Company (10 points)
Internal qualities of the firm: development stage, intangibles and know-how, geographic and product diversification, R&D commitment, brand strength, runway for expansion, and exposure to forward-looking rather than declining industries.
- Development stage
- Unique know-how and intangibles
- Geographic diversification
- Product diversification
- R&D spending
- Strong corporate brand
- Strong product brands
- Room for expansion
- New markets to enter
- Future-oriented industry
Product (6 points)
Durability of the core revenue engine: how hard it is to substitute, how cleanly it scales, room for new applications, market-share stability, network effects, and how genuinely novel the offering is.
- Difficult to substitute
- Easily scalable
- New applications possible
- Large and stable market share
- Network effects
- Unique and innovative
Environment (9 points)
What surrounds the business: competitive intensity, structural and financial barriers to entry, durable advantages, customer price sensitivity and pricing power, the trajectory of category demand, and customer loyalty.
- Low competition
- Quasi-monopoly conditions
- High barriers to entry
- High financial entry barrier
- Competitive advantages
- Low price sensitivity
- Pricing power
- Growing demand in category
- Loyal customers
How each item is scored
Every check is graded 1 if met or 0 if not - there are no half-points. The model has to commit to a yes or a no and back it with at least two sentences of evidence: the first stating what was evaluated and how the call was made, the second anchoring it in a specific fact, quote, number, or named source from the underlying material.
The evidence comes from primary sources: the descriptive parts of the company's most recent SEC filings (the business description and risk factors in the 10-K, plus the latest 10-Q), the most recent earnings call transcript, and material news from the last thirty days. Every justification carries inline citation markers that point at the exact source the model used.
Score bands
- 22–25Exceptional quality; strong fundamentals
- 18–21Strong company; many qualitative advantages
- 14–17Average; some qualitative strengths
- 10–13Weak quality; high-risk profile
- 0–9Very poor qualitative fundamentals
How to read a score
A high score means most underwriting checks are currently satisfied. It is not a buy recommendation. Read the scorecard alongside the scenarios, catalysts, and risks sections of the report - those tell you what could change, on what timeline, and at what valuation the qualitative picture is being priced. The justification under each item names the source the model used, so you can disagree with any individual call rather than the whole number.
Scores are a snapshot from the moment the report was generated. A new filing, an earnings miss, a regulatory move, or a shift in category demand can move several items at once. Re-run the report when material news lands rather than treating the original score as evergreen.