A working investor's handbook
The Field Guide to Stock Analysis
Stock Analysis Frameworks & Research Tools
How to value a stock, read a 10-K, grade the people running it, and write a thesis you can defend six months later.
Most investing mistakes are not math mistakes. They are framing mistakes made before the model opens.
What you'll find here
The Field Guide is a free, structured stock analysis framework built for retail investors who want to do real due diligence — not skim a headline and guess. It covers the full equity research workflow: framing a business, reading financial statements, scoring earnings quality, grading capital allocation, estimating intrinsic value, and writing an investment thesis you can defend.
Each chapter doubles as an equity research checklist for one stage of the process. Part I teaches you how to frame a company before touching a spreadsheet. Part II walks through 10-K reading and earnings quality analysis. Part III covers valuation — DCF models, comparable multiples, and the mistakes that blow up most stock analysis templates. Part IV is a capital allocation playbook for grading management. Part V ties it all together into a written thesis.
Alongside the chapters, you get free valuation calculators, an earnings quality scorer, and a capital allocation grader — the same tools referenced in every chapter. No signup, no paywall. Start with the table of contents below, or jump straight to the chapter that matches the research you are doing this week.
Foreword
The Field Guide is the house method at Basis Report — the opinionated, working-investor version of the analytical training we wish we'd had before buying our first stock.
Every chapter is written to do one thing: move you one step closer to a defensible investment decision. We skip the jargon where jargon is decoration, keep it where jargon is precision, and tell you, in plain language, where most investors get hurt. The guide is deliberately narrow. It is not a finance textbook and it is not trading content. It is the actual workflow we use when we pick up a new name — framing, statements, earnings quality, capital allocation, and finally a written thesis — and the order we use it in.
Read it cover to cover, or jump to the chapter that matches the research you are doing this week. Either works. The Field Guide is a living document; new chapters are drafted and added as we extend coverage.
Table of Contents
Five parts, in the order you should read them.
- IValuationWhat a business is actually worth, and the lenses you reach for first.13 chapters
~145 min - IIEarnings QualityWhether the numbers a company prints are real, and the patterns that betray them.3 chapters
~35 min - IIIReading StatementsHow to actually read a 10-K, an income statement, a balance sheet, a cash flow.10 chapters
~142 min - IVCapital AllocationHow management deploys cash, and why it matters more than next quarter's beat.4 chapters
~51 min - VBuilding a ThesisTurning research into a written investment view you can defend and revisit.9 chapters
~106 min
Valuation
What a business is actually worth, and the lenses you reach for first.
Paired tool: DCF Calculator
- 01How to Value a StockThe framing work that decides whether your model is worth the time.14 min
- 02DCF Analysis Guide for Investors — How to Build a DCF ModelHow to build a DCF that survives a skeptical PM, not just looks precise.16 min
- 03DCF Sensitivity Analysis: How Assumptions Change Your ValuationWhere your DCF actually breaks. Run this before quoting a target price.11 min
- 04How stock multiples actually workWhat multiples tell you, what they hide, and when to walk away from them.10 min
- 05Tech multiples: what actually deserves a premiumWhy a tech multiple stops working the moment growth normalizes.12 min
- 06DCF vs P/E vs EV/EBITDA: choosing the right lensDCF, P/E, and EV/EBITDA each answer a different question. Pick wrong and you waste months.12 min
- 07EBITDA for investors: useful bridge, dangerous destinationEBITDA is a useful bridge and a dangerous destination. The line is here.9 min
- 08EV/EBITDA: how to use the multiple without fooling yourselfWhen EV/EBITDA is honest about a business and when it lies for the seller.10 min
- 09Enterprise value vs market cap: when the difference actually mattersWhy two companies at the same market cap can be priced wildly differently.8 min
- 10Free Cash Flow: What Earnings Miss and FCF CatchesWhat free cash flow actually tells you about a business — and the three ways investors misuse it.12 min
- 11Free cash flow yield: how to use it without kidding yourselfFCF yield is the cleanest valuation lens you have. Use it without fooling yourself.10 min
- 12Price to book ratio: how to use P/B without fooling yourselfP/B works for banks and asset-heavy businesses. It quietly fails for everything else.9 min
- 13Sum-of-the-parts valuation: how to use SOTP without fooling yourselfHow to value a conglomerate without papering over its worst segment.12 min
Earnings Quality
Whether the numbers a company prints are real, and the patterns that betray them.
Paired tool: Earnings Quality Scorer
- 01Earnings Quality Checklist: Judge the Quarter, Not the HeadlineWhat a serious analyst checks before quoting any earnings number.11 min
- 0215 Earnings Quality Red Flags to Catch Before You Buy a StockFifteen red flags that tell you the earnings number is lying — before the restatement.14 min
- 03GAAP vs adjusted earnings: the investor audit playbookWhere adjusted earnings legitimately help and where they let management hide.10 min
Reading Statements
How to actually read a 10-K, an income statement, a balance sheet, a cash flow.
Paired tool: Free Cash Flow Calculator
- 01How to Read a 10-K FilingWhere the truth lives in a 10-K, and which sections most investors skip.18 min
- 02How to Read an Income StatementWhat an income statement actually tells you — and the line items where most investors stop reading too soon.14 min
- 03How to Read a Balance Sheet for Stock InvestingWhat the balance sheet says about staying power, in the order you should read it.12 min
- 04How to Read a 10-Q FilingThe filing you see four times a year — and the quarterly red flags it reveals before the 10-K confirms them.14 min
- 05How to Read an 8-K FilingThe filing that moves stocks overnight — and most investors have never opened one directly.13 min
- 06S-1 due diligence: what the road show won't sayThe document every company writes once to sell you its stock. Read it like the underwriter, not the buyer.15 min
- 07How to Read an Earnings ReportWhat Wall Street sees in 30 seconds that takes most investors 30 minutes — and how to close the gap.14 min
- 08How to Read a Proxy Statement (DEF 14A)What the proxy tells you about governance that no other filing will — and the red flags most investors miss.15 min
- 09How to Read a Cash Flow StatementWhy the cash flow statement is where you check whether the income statement is real.12 min
- 10How to Analyze a Company's DebtWhat the debt stack tells you about survival odds that the income statement never will.15 min
Capital Allocation
How management deploys cash, and why it matters more than next quarter's beat.
Paired tool: Capital Allocation Grader
- 01Capital allocation playbook for investorsHow to grade management on the only decisions that compound for shareholders.13 min
- 02Stock-Based Compensation GuideWhy SBC is a real cost, how to measure dilution, and when it crosses the line from growth investment to shareholder abuse.13 min
- 03Return on invested capital: how to use ROIC without kidding yourselfROIC is the single most useful number on a 10-K. Here's how to use it without kidding yourself.12 min
- 04How to Read SEC Form 4 — Insider Buying & SellingThe filing insiders hope you never learn to read — and the buying patterns that actually predict returns.13 min
Building a Thesis
Turning research into a written investment view you can defend and revisit.
Paired tool: Intrinsic Value Calculator
- 01How to analyze a stock: first pass to convictionFrom first pass to conviction. The workflow that separates a hunch from a thesis.14 min
- 02How to verify a competitive moat before you pay upFive moat sources, one financial test, and a scorecard that separates durable businesses from temporary leaders.15 min
- 03Technology stock analysis: how to frame the research before the modelWhat to weight when you're analyzing a tech business specifically.13 min
- 04How to Build a Bull vs Bear Case for Any StockHow to build both sides of the trade so your thesis survives the first bad quarter.12 min
- 05Stock report framework: what a serious report must includeWhat a serious investment memo must include, and what it should refuse to include.10 min
- 06When to Sell a StockBuying is research. Selling is discipline. Here is the framework that separates the two.14 min
- 07Equity research reports: read them like an ownerHow to read a sell-side report like an owner, not a customer.11 min
- 08Analyst research report breakdown: what to trust, what to challengeWhat in an analyst report to trust, what to challenge, and what to ignore.9 min
- 09Analyst reports database playbook: build signal, not clutterBuilding your own analyst-report database without drowning in noise.8 min
Tools of the trade
The calculators we reach for while writing these chapters.
The Field Guide teaches the method. These are the free, no-signup calculators we use when we apply it. They take manual inputs, work on any exchange, and cite the chapter that explains the reasoning.
Editor's Note
We built the Field Guide because the free investing content online is either textbook theory or trading noise, and neither one helps you make a real decision on a real business. This is the middle path — the working method of an investor who actually has to write down why they own something.
New chapters are drafted on a weekly cadence. If there is a topic you want covered, the best signal you can send is to read the chapters already here and share the ones that helped.
Want the method run for you on a specific ticker?
A Basis Report applies every chapter of the Field Guide to one company and delivers a structured research document.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is fundamental analysis?
Fundamental analysis is the process of evaluating a stock by examining the underlying business — its financial statements, earnings quality, management decisions, and competitive position. The goal is to estimate what a company is actually worth (its intrinsic value) and compare that to the current stock price. The Field Guide walks through this process step by step, from reading a 10-K to writing a defensible investment thesis.
How do I analyze a stock for the first time?
Start by framing the business: understand what it sells, how it makes money, and who it competes with. Then read the most recent 10-K filing, focusing on the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. Next, evaluate earnings quality and capital allocation to see whether management is trustworthy with shareholder capital. Finally, estimate intrinsic value and write down your thesis. Our Field Guide covers each step in order across 26+ chapters.
What tools do professional stock analysts use?
Professional analysts rely on discounted cash flow (DCF) models, comparable company analysis (P/E, EV/EBITDA multiples), earnings quality frameworks, and capital allocation scorecards. Basis Report offers free versions of these tools — including a DCF calculator, earnings quality scorer, and capital allocation grader — designed for retail investors who want institutional-grade analysis without a Bloomberg terminal.
What is an equity research checklist?
An equity research checklist is a structured list of items an investor reviews before making a buy or sell decision. It typically covers financial statement analysis, earnings quality, valuation, management assessment, and risk factors. The Field Guide functions as a comprehensive equity research checklist — each chapter covers one stage of the analysis workflow, ensuring you don't skip critical steps.