Fundamental Analysis Introduction

Fundamental Analysis is a business valuation process- Income Statement (revenue, expenses, net income,
based on the assessment of company financialearnings and dividends)
statements. Famous practitioners of fundamental- Balance Sheet (assets, liabilities and equity)
stock analysis include Warren Buffett, Benjamin- Cash Flow Statement (cash flows from operations,
Graham and Peter Lynch.investments and financial activities)
The principles of fundamental stock analysis areFundamental Analysis Usage
widely publicized and two of the most widelyFundamental analysis is used to identify value
regarded stock investing books are:investment opportunities based on each company's
- Benjamin Graham's 'The Intelligent Investor'latest available financial results as well as historical
- Peter Lynch's 'One up on Wall Street'performance. Each company listed on a stock
Benjamin Graham was a mentor and major influenceexchange must publicly release their financial results
on Warren Buffett who following the principles set(usually quarterly) which allows for a comparative
out by Graham, has become one of the mostassessment to be made between companies over a
successful investors ever.range of fundamental analysis criteria. Performing
The track record of these fund managers speak forfundamental stock analysis allows you to statistically
themselves managing to achieve more than doublerank each company's financial health to find stocks in
the average returns of the market average overthe strongest financial positions through to the
decades.weakest.
Financial StatementsOnce you have found fundamentally strong
The three major financial statements used in acompanies you can then look at the historical stock
fundamental stock analysis assessment consist of:price trends for entry points into the market.