Research Faster
FAST Graphs™ is the “Fundamentals Analyzer Software Tool” a stock research tool that empowers subscribers to conduct fundamental stock research deeper and faster. Developed to provide “essential fundamentals at a glance,” they are offered as a fast and efficient “tool to think with.” Warren Buffett, the greatest capital allocator of all time, says: “There are only two things an investor needs to know; how to value a company and how to think about stock prices.” With the FAST Graphs™ fundamental stock analysis research tool at their disposal, subscribers are able to do both those tasks easily and quickly. FAST Graphs™ are offered as the first step in every fundamental stock research project and should be your first step too.
Our graphs provide the essential company fundamental information you need to know in order to make smart investment decisions. Within a matter of minutes, subscribers can examine the relationship of operating results to stock price performance on thousands of companies. The US and Canadian version of FAST Graphs™ has access to up to 20 years of historical fundamental data on thousands of U.S. and Canadian public companies. The FAST Graphs™ stock research tool takes all the hours of manual stock researching of business fundamentals and reduces it to seconds, giving you critical stock research information in an instant.
FAST Graphs
FAST Graphs™ is the “Fundamentals Analyzer Software Tool” a stock research tool that empowers subscribers to conduct fundamental stock research deeper and faster.
Historical Graph
Provides an instant perspective on the business behind the stock by allowing users to quickly analyze up to 20 years of essential fundamental data on more than 18,000 US and Canadian symbols.
5 Forecasting Calculators
Powerful rate of return calculators empowering subscribers to calculate future returns based on a company’s historical normal P/E ratio over any historical timeframe, and then calculate unlimited what if future return calculations based on various valuation levels (P/E ratios).
Analyst Scorecard
The Analyst Scorecard measures how accurate analysts have been regarding their forecasts made 1 year or 2 years prior to actual earnings reported for the company over the last 10 historical years.
*The 5 metrics available for Basic Subscriptions include: Adjusted (Operating) Earnings, Basic Earnings, Diluted Earnings (GAAP), Operating Cash Flow (OCF,FFO) and Free Cash Flow (FCF,AFFO)
Premium Subscribers have access to all 9: Adjusted (Operating) Earnings, Owner’s Earnings, Basic Earnings, Diluted Earnings (GAAP), Operating Cash Flow (OCF,FFO), Free Cash Flow (FCF,AFFO),EBITDA/share (EBITDA), EBIT/share (EBIT) and Cash Flow (CFL)
Commonly Asked Questions
Below we’ve provided answers to a few of the most common questions
What does the Historical FAST Graphs consist of?
The Historical Graph provides you historical information. This includes historical growth rates, normal P/E ratios, earnings per share, dividends, etc. In other words, they tell you what has happened and how the stock price has reacted to what has happened. One of those pieces of information is whether earnings growth has accelerated, decelerated or stayed the same.
How do I see dividends in FAST Graphs?
FAST Graphs™ reflects dividends in two different iterations. The first is the light green shaded area stacked on and above the orange line which depicts dividends after they have been paid out of earnings.
The second iteration of the honeydew colored line (it appears white on some monitors) is simply a plotting of each year’s dividend. This line serves two purposes. First of all, it allows the subscriber to determine whether dividends are rising steadily or if there have been previous dividend cuts. For example, when the dividends are stacked on top of the earnings line of a cyclical company, it could create the illusion that dividends were cut because the green shaded area would fall with earnings when, in fact, dividends were not cut. The honeydew line allows that to be quickly determined.
You will also see dividends in the Performance Results.
Can I evaluate REITs with FAST Graphs?
Yes. When evaluating REITs, FFO (funds from operations) is the most appropriate metric. This has to do with the law that governs qualifying as a REIT, and their requirements for distributing income. The metric AFFO (adjusted funds from operations) has been added. If you are in a regular corporation and want to evaluate a REIT, type in the REIT symbol and then choose the Cash Flow metric. When the REIT is drawn, it will automatically bring up FFO (Funds From Operations). However, just below FFO you will find an AFFO option. Once you are looking at REITs, these options will remain available. We suggest evaluating REITs utilizing both. However, if you move on to a regular corporation, the “Cash Flow” option will automatically be applied.
Most REITs have only been reporting AFFO for the last five years or so. Consequently, we don’t have a lot of historical data. AFFO does not have a uniform definition that is universally applied by all REITs. The calculation of FFO is more standardized. With that said, the advantage of AFFO is that it is considered a more precise measure of residual cash flow available and therefore, a better predictor of the REITs’ capacity to pay dividends.
How do I go about utilizing the years at the top of the Historical Graph?
It’s important to understand that FAST Graphs™ is a dynamic tool. In other words, when you draw different timeframes, FAST Graphs™ automatically calculates the different growth rates that apply to those different timeframes. Just like our tool, a company’s growth rates are dynamic and change over time. This is why we designed FAST Graphs™ to be able to run Earnings and Price Correlated graphs over timeframes as short as the last recent 2 years all the way up to 20 years of history. With this in mind, one of the best ways to use FAST Graphs™ to analyze a company is to start out running charts of 15 years (or even 20 years), followed by running shorter graphs.
First start with a 20-year graph, then run a 15-year graph, then run a 10-year graph, then run a 5-year graph, followed by a 2 or 3-year graph. This exercise allows you to determine whether a company’s earnings growth rate is accelerating, decelerating, or even staying the same. Furthermore, since the tool automatically applies the appropriate valuation formulas, you are also able to ascertain a better perspective of current fair value.