Richard takes a look at three slow growers, a financial data distribution platform, an emerging markets fund manager, and a world leading vehicle distributor. Arcontech, Ashmore, and Inchcape feature. 5 Strikes Since my last update, 5 companies have passed my minimum quality filter: Name TIDM Prev AR Strikes # Strikes ARC Arcontech 23/9/26 – Growth […]
Richard takes a tilt at Kainos, a software consultancy and developer that spooked investors in 2024 and 2025 and righted itself in 2026. Cerillion, Alfa, and Dunelm also feature. 5 Strikes Since my last update, six companies have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter. Of them, I only awarded Dunelm less than […]
Richard wrestles with the conundrum that is Goodwin, a company selling off its biggest and most profitable division. MS International and Northern Bear also feature. 5 Strikes Since my last update seven companies have passed my minimum quality filter and published annual reports. Name TIDM Prev AR Strikes # Strikes GDWN Goodwin 28/8/26 ? CROCI […]
Richard wonders if Colefax’s lucrative buyback strategy is destined to go on for another generation. Six more shares pass 5 Strikes. 5 Strikes Since my last update, 12 shares passed my minimum quality filter. After a cursory examination of their director shareholdings and financial histories in ShareScope, seven have achieved less than three strikes. Name […]
England’s oldest toiletries company fails 5 Strikes. Instead Richard’s attention drifts towards the cloud. Gamma Communications has one strike, which is no impediment to investment. The company falls at the second hurdle though. Only one of the companies that has published an annual report since I last updated you has passed my minimum quality filter. […]
Richard checks out the ESG credentials of meat producer Cranswick, which believes the high carbon footprint of cattle and sheep farming will work to its advantage. Its financial record has no strikes. 5 Strikes Only three companies have published annual reports and passed the minimum quality filter since my last update. Name TIDM Prev AR […]
After some mental gymnastics, Richard confirms Autotrader and Tatton have no major blemishes in their financial histories. Tatton, in particular, looks like a very good business. Five companies achieve less than three strikes and go on his research list. 5 Strikes Since my last update, 13 of the companies listed in London that published annual […]
Six shares pass 5 strikes this time. Richard takes a closer look at Morgan Sindall, which achieved no strikes. The building contractor and property developer is a complex business, as demonstrated by its loss-making Muse subsidiary. 5 Strikes Since my last update, 11 shares have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter. Six […]
Richard Beddard returns with the latest 5 Strikes update, highlighting three new companies that have passed his quality filter and earned a place on his research list. He also takes a closer look at Me Group, reassessing its photobooth business, growth credentials and the risks facing one of this year’s lowest-scoring shares. In this update […]
Richard Beddard revisits his 5 Strikes quality screen, assessing a fresh batch of companies that have recently passed the initial filter and identifying those worthy of closer attention. He also explores whether AI-driven demand is creating an opportunity or a future challenge for leading IT resellers Computacenter and Softcat. Computacenter and Softcat are the UKs […]
Richard says there is more to evaluating directors’ shareholdings than considering the percentage of the company’s shares they own. In lieu of a 5 Strikes update this week, he lists all the shares that have passed the filter in 2026. I am away, so I haven’t appraised the companies that have published annual reports and […]
Richard considers modest executive pay at Alfa Financial Software and Quartix, and recent share purchases by FDM directors. 5 Strikes Eighteen companies have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter since my last update. Name TIDM Prev AR Strikes # Strikes EKF EKF Diagnostics 27/4/26 ? CROCI – Growth ? ROCE 2 BILN […]
Loads more companies pass 5 Strikes this week as the flood of annual reports continues. Richard looks at what software companies are saying about the AI threat, and reconsiders ConvaTec (CTEC) as its strategy evolves. 5 Strikes 21 companies published annual reports in the last two weeks or so and passed my minimum quality filter: […]
38 shares have published annual reports and passed Richard’s minimum quality filter. 19 of them score less than three strikes. As he wades through these promising shares, Alfa Financial Software catches his eye. 5 Strikes Of the 38 shares to have passed my minimum quality filter, 19 score less than three strikes. The flood of […]
Since his last update, nine companies have passed Richard’s minimum quality filter. Most are very large businesses. He takes a peek at GlobalData, the smallest of four investment candidates to score less than two strikes. 5 Strikes Annual reports for companies with year-ends that coincided with the financial year end have swelled from a trickle […]
Seven companies pass Richard’s minimum quality filter, but only two of them impress. He takes a closer look at RELX, a company that has earned an impeccable reputation selling information, data, and tools to insurers, scientists and lawyers. 5 Strikes Since my last update, at least seven companies have published annual reports and passed my […]
With no new companies making it past his 5 Strikes filter, Richard examines transport software house and consultancy Tracsis’ rise and fall. To rise again, he thinks it must navigate a strategic minefield. 5 Strikes Since my last update, three big and ugly looking companies have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter. […]
Richard’s filter strikes out, so he takes a closer look at Cerillion, the software company that achieved no strikes at all last time. The company has a perfect track record, but how much does that tell us about the future? 5 Strikes Over the last few weeks, very few companies have published annual reports, only […]
It is four out of four this time, as Cerillion, Hollywood Bowl, Ramsdens and RWS all pass the 5 Strikes test. Richard Beddard explains why Cerillion is the pick of the bunch, with a rare perfect score and a financial track record that merits closer scrutiny. 5 Strikes I’ve got good news and bad news. […]
Richard puts the last 10 shares to pass his minimum quality filter through 5 Strikes and finds two exotic companies. One is making less money in a roaring market. The other is making big profits in a declining one. Today, I am collecting up stragglers, the last companies to publish annual reports in 2025 that […]
Richard reveals the names of all 211 shares that pass his minimum quality screen, and the Strikes he gave them in 2025. Despite striking out, AstraZeneca features. Following my 5 Strikes explainer, I thought I would share the whole list of shares that passed my minimum quality filter in 2025. Shares that do not pass […]
Richard is screening for companies that have grown under their own steam. He explains the filter he uses to pick candidates for long term investment and the financial statistics that underpin it. Since this is my last article before Christmas, I wish you a happy one. ShareScope is my main tool for discovering shares. 5 […]
A fresh batch of companies has cleared Richard Beddard’s 5 Strikes filter, with Tristel and Bioventix standing out for their unusual strengths and resilience. Netcall also makes the cut and could be one to watch. 5 Strikes Since my last update, five shares have passed my minimum quality filter. Primarily, this weeds out companies that […]
Softcat and Dotdigital are the only shares to pass Richard’s 5 Strikes filter. He explains why we shouldn’t worry about Softcat’s volatile turnover, but we should keep an eye on Dotdigital’s increasing capital employed. 5 Strikes Just three shares have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter since my last update. Name TIDM […]
Eagle Eye is an intriguing business with improving numbers that just fails to make the 5 Strikes cut. Richard also examines a trio of businesses that supply products for buildings. James Halstead, with only one strike, is not what he is looking for. 5 Strikes Since my last update, six companies have published annual reports […]
Richard considers two shares that pass his 5 Strikes screening process. The first, Dunelm (DNLM), has almost flawless numbers. The second, Wilmington (WIL), is intriguing because of the flaws in its numbers. Since I last updated you, seven shares have published annual reports and percolated through the minimum quality filter. Name TIDM Prev AR Strikes […]
Richard collects all the shares that have passed his 5 Strikes system so far this year, a total of 81 businesses with good financial track records. Six shares have made it past the minimum quality filter since I last updated you, but only two join the 79 shares that had already passed 5 strikes since […]
Richard is tempted by a growing business that employs 18 people and only earns £3m turnover. If it were up to him, all firms would disclose their chief executive to median employee pay ratio. Just one company has published an annual report and passed the minimum quality filter since my last update. To pass the […]
As directors go on holiday and annual reports dry up, only two companies make it through the 5 Strikes process. One is notable for how much it has grown, the other for how much it has shrunk. Richard takes a closer look at near-miss Cake Box’s annual report, published in August. The height of summer […]
Although Richard prefers to invest in businesses that should grow steadily over the long term, one company is showing it can generate long-term shareholder returns while hardly growing at all. Before I take a closer look at Colefax, a five-strikes update. 5 Strikes Since my last update, nine companies have published annual reports and passed […]
Games Workshop, Kainos and James Latham pass the 5 strikes test. Richard ponders the future of people-focused businesses in a world in which AI is doing more of the work. Three companies have passed my minimum quality filter and a cursory evaluation of their financial track records since my last update. Name TIDM Prev AR […]
Nine shares pass the minimum quality filter but five fail to make the grade. That leaves Polar Capital, XPS Pensions and MS International in the frame. Richard discovers how Mortgage Advice Bureau is setting out to disrupt its industry. Of the nine companies to publish annual reports and pass the minimum quality filter since my […]
Car marketplace Auto Trader and pork and poultry producer Cranswick pass 5 Strikes. Richard learns about animal welfare and finds a company is zigging when others are zagging. Since my last update, five companies have passed my minimum quality filter, the first stage of the 5 Strikes process. Two of them have achieved less than […]
Five companies pass the 5 strikes test. Richard takes a closer look at QinetiQ, the defence technology company underperforming in a booming market. 5 Strikes Since my last update, 10 companies have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter. On closer inspection of their long-term financial track-records, five achieved less than 3 strikes […]
Richard updates us on Pets at Home, the ubiquitous pet store is hiding a fast-growing vet practice and incubating a pet insurance business. He also takes a closer look at Eleco’s major shareholders, which unlocks the company’s storied history. 5 Strikes Pets at Home is the only company to publish its annual report since my […]
Six shares achieve less than three strikes. Among the haul of heroes are card shop or “celebrations destination” Card Factory, a software provider to the construction industry, and cosmetics brand Warpaint. Meanwhile, Richard’s pursuit of Spirax continues, even though traders are losing confidence in it. First off 5 Strikes, and six companies with good track […]
Just two shares out of six to publish annual reports in the last fortnight achieve less than three strikes. Richard introduces M Winkworth and Churchill China, before discovering that Spirax makes your toast (and his). The two shares to publish annual reports, pass my minimum quality and achieve less than three strikes in the last […]
This week Richard surveys an unusually high-quality crop of shares and takes a closer look at Nichols. The soft drinks company owns the Vimto brand and its secret formula. Six of the 14 companies that published annual reports in the last fortnight and passed my minimum quality filter have impressive financial track records. That’s a […]
Richard looks beyond Morgan Sindall’s excellent numbers to find any Big Obvious Objections (or Boo’s) to investing in the business. Meanwhile, 11 shares make it through the 5 Strikes filters. In the last fortnight 21 companies have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter. Eleven of them achieved less than 3 strikes. 5 […]
In 2021, traders gobbled up shares in cake store franchise Cake Box, then spewed them back out. Today, the company earns twice as much in turnover than it did in 2020, but the share price is not much higher. Bonanza! 5 Strikes Twenty-nine shares have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter in […]
They say elephants can’t gallop, but Pets At Home is an elephant in UK pet care, and it has been trotting along nicely. Richard takes a closer look at the pet store chain dominating the market. Of the ten shares to publish annual reports in the last fortnight and pass my Minimum Quality filter, four […]
The trickle of annual reports in January and February has turned into a stream. It will soon be a flood. Eight companies have achieved less than three strikes. Richard takes a closer look at Dotdigital, which achieved only one strike last November. Of the 13 companies that published annual reports in the last fortnight, a […]
Richard digs deeper into Spirax’s annual report to discover why its numbers have deteriorated and consider whether the company can re-establish its tremendous long-term track record. 5 Strikes Only four companies have published annual reports and passed the minimum quality filter since my last article. Only one of them achieved less than 3 Strikes, and […]
Six years after selling Science, a share that today has no strikes to its name, Richard looks at the consultancy’s last annual report to see where the company’s strategy took it. Since last time, only three companies have published annual reports and made it past my minimum quality filter. I assigned all of them 4 […]
January is a quiet month for annual reports, so Richard mines the list of shares that passed the 5 Strikes test in 2024 and should pass it again in 2025. Spirax Sarco catches his eye. Only two shares have published annual reports in the sleepy post-New Year reporting season. That is because the many companies […]
Cerillion has a perfect track record selling software to a challenging sector. Goldplat knows how to profit consistently from miners in troubled economies. Renew has figured out how to make big returns from labour intensive infrastructure repair and maintenance. All pass the 5 Strikes test. Unsurprisingly companies haven’t been busy churning out annual reports over […]
Richard makes a rare find, a company with no strikes to its name. He also stripped down his 5 Strikes system and checked its components to make sure it was fit for the purpose in 2025. Happy New Year! And a propitious one it is too, because the only company to have scored less than […]
Richard brings you the latest shares to pass his 5 Strikes process and takes a look at Raspberry Pi, a rare British technology company that will not pass the 5 Strikes test for at least 7 years. Since this is my last article before Christmas, I am (temporarily) passing up the opportunity to write about […]
Gram for gram Bioventix must be one of the most profitable manufacturers in the UK. Richard also looks at Dotdigital. It too has an unblemished financial history. Since my last update in mid-November, six companies have passed my minimum quality filter, and four of them have achieved less than three strikes. These companies have achieved […]
Only two companies pass Richard’s minimum quality filter. Luckily Associated British Foods and Softcat both pass the 5 Strikes test. It’s been a thin fortnight for my 5 Strikes system since I last updated you. Only two of the 16 companies that published annual reports passed my minimum quality filter, which is a pretty low […]
Richard presents the latest companies to make it through his 5 Strikes process. Volution, a manufacturer of extractor fans and more sophisticated ventilation systems achieved only one strike, making it a prime candidate for research. Since my last update, five companies have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter. Having briefly scrutinised their […]
Investing in UK market-leading companies is a marmite proposition. They must have done something good but, if they are already so big, how can they keep taking market share? Richard examines market leaders Dunelm, and Inchcape (again!) In this week’s update, only two companies published annual reports, passed my minimum quality filter and the 5 […]
Richard looks at one of his least favourite kinds of business – asset managers. Love them or loathe them, many London-listed asset managers are profitable and financially sound. Investors, aka asset managers, are not my favourite category of share. The financial world is precarious to me, which is why long ago I decided to take […]
There is very little 5 Strikes action, so Richard takes the opportunity to slide Inchcape onto the front burner. Over the last eight years, the company has sharpened its focus on motor vehicle distribution. Deciding what to focus on is the basis of good strategy. Since my last article only two shares have published annual […]
From a pool of more than 200 shares, Richard hones in on software company Kainos (again), fast food favourite Greggs, motor vehicle distributor Inchcape, integrated pet shop and vet group Pets at Home, and defence technology supplier Cohort. On the horizon: posh wallpaper and fabric designer Colefax and Gately, a law firm. Well, maybe not […]
Richard examines fault after fault in businesses until he can find no more. If the faults should not cause permanent damage, the share is an investment candidate. Currently, Kainos is in the spotlight and Iomart and IG enter the pipeline. I am compiling a list of all the companies with a few flaws in their […]
The latest haul of investment candidates from Richard includes a software company, a timber importer, a one-of-a-kind fantasy gaming and modelling company Games Workshop, a housebuilder and a business so small you may never have heard of it. Just to recap and contextualise, 5 Strikes is a quick way of deciding which shares are the […]
Richard’s 5 Strikes system puts three very different businesses in the frame: Athleisure brand Lululemon, Gamma Communications – an IT company that supplies communications systems, and MS International, which manufactures naval cannon. Bingo! Well, almost Bingo. In my last article, I promised to order the results of my 5 Strikes system by number of strikes […]
Richard scratches the itch that is payments company PayPoint. Maybe his time would have been better spent investigating one of the other companies on his research list, Cranswick, say, or Castings, but he has no regrets. The main focus of this article is PayPoint. There’s no snappy adjective I can use to describe Paypoint because […]
The latest haul of 5 strikes shares includes Halma and RS, proof perhaps that big companies can gallop, or at least trot. Richard also doffs his cap to Bloomsbury Publishing and works out how profitable Next 15 really is. We’re in a low period for annual report publishing as the large number of companies that […]
The standout share from Richard’s latest 5 Strikes haul is Pets at Home, a dominant pet care business in the UK with a strong financial track record. Fifteen companies have passed the Minimum Quality Filter since my last update, but the finances of only three score less than three strikes, according to the 5 strikes […]
Richard’s 5 Strikes systems discover four more potential long-term investments, but he doesn’t investigate any of them. Instead, he’s drawn to B-Corp aspirant and gaggle of consultancies Next 15. It has only two strikes to tarnish its name. Since the last 5 Strikes update, my 5 Strikes system has discovered four more candidates for long-term […]
Bad news: customer service is in decline in the UK. Good news, we can still invest in the companies bucking the trend. Richard sprinkles some stardust on SharePad to reveal companies that are doing the right thing and reaping the rewards. A chance encounter with an article about declining standards of customer service in the […]
The latest companies to pass Richard’s 5 strikes system include a direct seller of swag, an estate agent franchise, an engineer that should galvanise investors, a soft drinks company, and a market-leading mortgage intermediary. Since my last update, I have run 16 shares through the 5 Strikes system. Five achieved less than three strikes. This […]
If ever there was a company that demonstrated complexity can be bad for business, it’s Nichols. When diversified, profitability crumbles. When it sticks to marketing soft drinks it prospers. Guess what it is doing now? The one thing you will not read much about in this article is Vimto. Vimto is a soft drink and […]
Richard tightens up his “Minimum Quality” filter so that SharePad is doing more of the heavy lifting. In a not-very-scientific test, 18 out of 21 good-quality businesses were identified by it. Last month I shared a list of all the companies that passed my semi-automated sifting of the entire stockmarket over the course of the […]
Richard unearths five good-quality businesses that have recently published annual reports. Top of the list are InterContinental Hotels (IHG), and MoneySupermarket (MONY)… Joyfully, I am away on holiday but my holiday is mistimed in one respect. The post-Christmas lull in annual report publishing has come to an end. A large number of companies with financial […]
For a year now, Richard has been scrutinising companies and awarding them ‘strikes’ for complications that make them tricky to analyse and potentially unpredictable as investments. Now he’s combed the entire market, he reveals all the shares that didn’t strike out. It’s a year since I started the 5 Strikes project, which means I have […]
IntegraFin and Shoe Zone are the only companies to achieve less than three strikes as the winter lull in annual reporting intensifies. Richard also takes a closer look at Renew. 5 Strikes Since my last 5 Strikes update, I have only found two shares that achieve less than three strikes. A strike is a complicating […]
Richard Beddard goes through the adjustments RWS made to turn a reported £6.9 million loss into an adjusted £123.8 million profit. He thinks there are generalisations we can apply to many adjustments that make it easier to form a view on their profit. Oh my word. Translator RWS’ accounts for the year to September 2023 […]
Richard introduces the latest fish caught in his 5 Strikes net. The seven shares include a giant caterer, a software supplier with a perfect track record, and a travel agent that makes “jollies even jollier”. Post-Christmas, there is a bit of a lull in the annual reporting season. That is because a large number of […]
There are a rapidly growing number of certified B Corps organisations that combine purpose and profit. As yet, only a handful are listed, but Richard thinks we’re at the beginning of a trend. It may be a profitable one for investors. This year’s crop of Christmas gifts has rekindled my interest in investing in a […]
Having used the 5 Strikes system for nine months, Richard has decided it is a keeper. Commenting on the latest investment candidates to achieve less than 3 strikes, he explains what he was thinking while he was separating the wheat from the chaff. Happy New Year! At the turn of every year, I review my […]
Keystone Law is top of Richard’s research list because it is unlike any other listed law firm. Not only has it performed better than the others, it has a different way of doing business. But how special is it? One of the many things that hinder my understanding of companies is a direct result of […]
Six shares have passed the first stage of Richard’s 5 Strikes process. Many of them are destined for the “too hard pile”, perhaps the most underrated element in an investor’s toolkit. Here is an update on the latest companies to have published annual reports and passed the 5 Strikes system*. Since the last update four […]
Richard uses SharePad and Artificial Intelligence to help him learn about listed law firms. The legal sector is not quite the unappreciated stock market backwater he anticipated. It is a bit of a horror show, with a couple of light intermissions. It was the data that alerted me to the opportunity in listed law firms. […]
It has been a month since Richard revealed the latest shares to pass his 5 Strikes system. The good news, some have passed with flying colours. 5 Strikes* is my main method of discovering new long-term investments, and since we share my discoveries here regularly, some readers will be familiar with it by now. If […]
The Capex to operating cash flow ratio can tell us a lot about a firm’s priorities. Richard explores the ratios of a number of capital-intensive businesses. For many years I have held shares in Goodwin, a family owned mini-conglomerate of engineering businesses. This gaggle of businesses is capital intensive, which means Goodwin has to invest […]
Since Richard started scoring companies in SharePad last April, twelve companies have scored zero strikes, the best possible score. In this article, he decides which of them to research next. Five-strikes-wise, there is not much to report on. I have awarded four shares that have reported in the last two weeks with less than three […]
Shares in SDI have plummeted. Richard examines the price differential between the company, a manufacturer of scientific equipment, and Judges Scientific, a firm it is often compared to. In the last two weeks, my 5 strikes system* has only surfaced two new investment ideas: SDI and Goodwin. These businesses have good financial track records, but […]
Richard picks holes in the financial histories of four companies and finds little to trouble him. Remarkably Cake Box, a company that published an annual report riddled with errors two years ago, is one of them. As fishing expeditions go, my daily trips in the last two weeks have been particularly unfruitful. Few companies have […]
Richard reveals the latest batch of shares to go through his 5 strikes system. Topping the list is Kainos, a pandemic winner that probably has what it takes to prosper over the long term. Here are the latest candidates for long-term investing according to my 5 Strikes system: Name AR date Strikes Score Kainos 21/7/23 […]
Richard looks beyond how Christie Group PLC makes money, to how it is going to make more. He examines the challenges it faces and how it plans to overcome them, aka strategy. My enthusiasm for Christie has diminished in the two weeks since I introduced it to you (see 29 top scorers, and Christie bottled). […]
Richard reveals the latest shares to pass his 5 Strikes scoring system, and attempts to bottle the essence of Christie, a big data business back in 1846! It may be the height of summer, but I am still beavering away scoring shares as companies publish their annual reports. Two months of top-scoring shares To recap, […]
An iron rule in long-term investing is to understand the business. Richard adapts business school teaching to work out how companies make money. One of the advantages private investors have over many fund managers is that we do not have to worry about being fired or losing out on bonuses just because we have not […]
Richard finds 11 franchisors listed in London and pits them against each other in a championship to find the best one. In round one, a wildcard goes out to the number two seed. One of the first things I noticed when I started scoring companies in SharePad this spring was that franchises were scoring well. […]
Richard uses the results of his Five strikes scoring system to go in search of high-quality sectors. It is leading him to challenge long-held beliefs about what makes a good long-term investment. Scoring companies, when they publish annual reports, means that over the course of a year, I will have conducted a survey of a […]
As the number of new annual reports dwindles from a flood to a trickle, Richard examines another cut of shares that he scores highly. It is leading him to think the unthinkable. The springtime flood of annual reports has abated, so this article probably contains the last big cut of shares that, after scrutinising the […]
FDM is the top-scoring company in Richard’s watchlist. Still doggedly trying to find things wrong with the business, he examines what has made it so successful, and what, if anything, could stop it in its tracks. The presence of FDM at the top of my first tranche of Five Stocks and You’re Out Shares, has […]
Richard reveals the top-scoring shares to have been through his “Five strikes and you’re out” scoring system. Top of the list is a company he has never investigated before. In Five strikes and you’re out, I introduced a method for rapidly scoring shares by eyeballing the financials in SharePad using one custom table. Every day […]
Richard employs some fuzzy logic to narrow the number of companies returned by his filter. A bit like we might do a set of press-ups every day, it is a routine to make him a stronger investor. While everybody is talking about the latest developments in artificial intelligence, getting computers to think more like humans, […]
The way companies account for share-based pay tends to erase the cost from profit and free cash flow, which is how we measure their performance. Richard factors share-based payback in and discovers it can make a difference to our perception of businesses, and their valuations. Every year I read Fundsmith’s annual letter to fund holders […]
The collapse of a handful of banks is provoking fears of contagion and a fair bit of trading. Though we think of traders and buy-and-hold investors as separate breeds, everybody trades. Discipline is as important for those of us who do it infrequently as those who do it daily. No doubt you have heard, people […]
Although Arm will list in the USA, there should be nothing to stop us buying shares in Britain’s top tech company after it floats. This idea leads Richard to a potentially rich seam of investments he has not previously explored: UK firms listed in the USA. Judging by the headlines, news that Arm is to […]
Richard looks at the good and the ugly in Hollywood Bowl’s alternative performance measures and concludes that the company has put a positive gloss on adjusted profit. In Getting to grips with Alternative Performance Measures (APMs), I explained that exceptional items are costs or gains that obscure the underlying performance of a business. This does […]
Companies publish alternative performance measures (APMs) that remove one-off costs and gains from profit to give us a better understanding of how they have performed. Like all financial statistics, though, APMs can be abused. Investors should always check how they are calculated. Since making profit is the reason for being in business, many Alternative Performance […]
Richard deploys ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence program, to help him understand two software platforms we can invest in that incorporate artificial intelligence. His conclusion: this is not a dystopia, it is the start of a partnership. Unless you have been living under a rock, you have surely heard of ChatGPT. It is an artificial intelligence […]
Technically, Sharepad’s ROCE calculation is ROACE or Return on Average Capital Employed. It is a good refinement of perhaps the most revealing performance statistic for a business. Sometimes readers ask me why my figure for a certain financial statistic is different from SharePad’s, or the figure quoted by the company. Usually, it is because the […]
Richard calculates the annual performance of his portfolio going back 13 years. One good or bad year tells us nothing about the skill of an investor, he says. If you had a bad one, do not beat yourself up about it. Happy New Year! I am kicking this year off on a bum note, talking […]
Richard puts one last company through his process in 2022. It gives him a chance to reflect on how he has changed the way he uses SharePad this year. Towards the end of every year, I reflect on the year gone by, what has gone right and what has gone wrong, and how I can […]
