BASIS REPORT›THE FIELD GUIDE

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.
5 parts·49 chapters·~607 min total·Free, no signup
Start Part I →Table of Contents

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.

— The Editors, Basis Report

Table of Contents

Five parts, in the order you should read them.

  1. IValuationWhat a business is actually worth, and the lenses you reach for first.13 chapters
    ~145 min
  2. IIEarnings QualityWhether the numbers a company prints are real, and the patterns that betray them.3 chapters
    ~35 min
  3. IIIReading StatementsHow to actually read a 10-K, an income statement, a balance sheet, a cash flow.10 chapters
    ~142 min
  4. IVCapital AllocationHow management deploys cash, and why it matters more than next quarter's beat.4 chapters
    ~51 min
  5. VBuilding a ThesisTurning research into a written investment view you can defend and revisit.13 chapters
    ~162 min
Part I

Valuation

What a business is actually worth, and the lenses you reach for first.

Paired tool: DCF Calculator

  1. 01How to Value a Stock Without Fooling YourselfThe framing work that decides whether your model is worth the time.14 min
  2. 02How to build a DCF that holds under pressureHow to build a DCF that survives a skeptical PM, not just looks precise.16 min
  3. 03DCF sensitivity: make the fragile assumptions visibleWhere your DCF actually breaks. Run this before quoting a target price.11 min
  4. 04Stock multiples: read the argument inside the numberWhat multiples tell you, what they hide, and when to walk away from them.10 min
  5. 05Tech multiples: what actually deserves a premiumWhy a tech multiple stops working the moment growth normalizes.12 min
  6. 06Why Method Selection Is the Most Underrated Valuation StepDCF, P/E, and EV/EBITDA each answer a different question. Pick wrong and you waste months.12 min
  7. 07EBITDA for investors: useful bridge, dangerous destinationEBITDA is a useful bridge and a dangerous destination. The line is here.9 min
  8. 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
  9. 09Enterprise value vs market cap: when the difference actually mattersWhy two companies at the same market cap can be priced wildly differently.8 min
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 13SOTP valuation: the discount usually outlasts the catalystHow to value a conglomerate without papering over its worst segment.12 min
Part II

Earnings Quality

Whether the numbers a company prints are real, and the patterns that betray them.

Paired tool: Earnings Quality Scorer

  1. 01Earnings Quality Checklist: Judge the Quarter, Not the HeadlineWhat a serious analyst checks before quoting any earnings number.11 min
  2. 02Earnings quality red flags that break the thesisFifteen red flags that tell you the earnings number is lying — before the restatement.14 min
  3. 03GAAP vs adjusted earnings: audit every add-backWhere adjusted earnings legitimately help and where they let management hide.10 min
Part III

Reading Statements

How to actually read a 10-K, an income statement, a balance sheet, a cash flow.

Paired tool: Free Cash Flow Calculator

  1. 0110-K filing: read what management hopes you skimWhere the truth lives in a 10-K, and which sections most investors skip.18 min
  2. 02What the Income Statement Shows That EPS Won'tWhat an income statement actually tells you — and the line items where most investors stop reading too soon.14 min
  3. 03What the Balance Sheet Reveals That Earnings Won'tWhat the balance sheet says about staying power, in the order you should read it.12 min
  4. 0410-Q filing: catch quarterly drift before the market doesThe filing you see four times a year — and the quarterly red flags it reveals before the 10-K confirms them.14 min
  5. 058-K filing decoder: read the event before the market reactsThe filing that moves stocks overnight — and most investors have never opened one directly.13 min
  6. 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
  7. 07How to Read an Earnings Report Without Getting PlayedWhat Wall Street sees in 30 seconds that takes most investors 30 minutes — and how to close the gap.14 min
  8. 08Proxy statement: how to audit the board before buyingWhat the proxy tells you about governance that no other filing will — and the red flags most investors miss.15 min
  9. 09What the Cash Flow Statement Reveals That Earnings Won'tWhy the cash flow statement is where you check whether the income statement is real.12 min
  10. 10How to Analyze Company Debt: Four Key RatiosWhat the debt stack tells you about survival odds that the income statement never will.15 min
Part IV

Capital Allocation

How management deploys cash, and why it matters more than next quarter's beat.

Paired tool: Capital Allocation Grader

  1. 01Capital allocation: grade management before you buyHow to grade management on the only decisions that compound for shareholders.13 min
  2. 02Stock-based compensation is not free: measure the real costWhy SBC is a real cost, how to measure dilution, and when it crosses the line from growth investment to shareholder abuse.13 min
  3. 03Return on invested capital: the incremental-returns testROIC is the single most useful number on a 10-K. Here's how to use it without kidding yourself.12 min
  4. 04Form 4 decoded: read the insider signal, not the headlineThe filing insiders hope you never learn to read — and the buying patterns that actually predict returns.13 min
Part V

Building a Thesis

Turning research into a written investment view you can defend and revisit.

Paired tool: Intrinsic Value Calculator

  1. 01How to analyze a stock: first pass to convictionFrom first pass to conviction. The workflow that separates a hunch from a thesis.14 min
  2. 02Economic moat analysis: five structural tests before paying a premiumFive moat sources, one financial test, and a scorecard that separates durable businesses from temporary leaders.15 min
  3. 03Technology stock analysis: how to frame the research before the modelWhat to weight when you're analyzing a tech business specifically.13 min
  4. 04Semiconductor stock analysis: reading the cycle before repricingHow to read the semiconductor cycle before it shows up in earnings.14 min
  5. 05Healthcare stock analysis: clinical risk, pipeline, and pricingPricing pipeline risk and reimbursement dynamics in healthcare stocks.14 min
  6. 06Financial Stock Analysis: NIM, Credit Quality & ValuationCredit cycles, NIM sensitivity, and capital adequacy in financial sector analysis.14 min
  7. 07Energy Stock Analysis: Cycles, Reserve Quality & ValuationReserve quality, breakeven costs, and through-cycle valuation for energy stocks.14 min
  8. 08Bull vs bear case: build both before you betHow to build both sides of the trade so your thesis survives the first bad quarter.12 min
  9. 09Build a stock report that survives hard pushbackWhat a serious investment memo must include, and what it should refuse to include.10 min
  10. 10When to Sell a Stock: Three Triggers That Hold Under PressureBuying is research. Selling is discipline. Here is the framework that separates the two.14 min
  11. 11Equity research reports: read them like an ownerHow to read a sell-side report like an owner, not a customer.11 min
  12. 12Analyst research report breakdown: what to trust, what to challengeWhat in an analyst report to trust, what to challenge, and what to ignore.9 min
  13. 13Analyst 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.

DCF CalculatorBuild a discounted cash flow model, sanity-checked by the Valuation chapters.Open tool →Earnings Quality ScoreSix inputs, a 4-dimension score. Pairs with Part II.Open tool →Capital Allocation GradeGrade management on ROIC, buybacks, and M&A. Pairs with Part IV.Open tool →P/E Context ToolPut any multiple in historical and industry context.Open tool →

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.

Edited by the Basis Report editorial desk

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.

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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.

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. Finally, estimate intrinsic value and write down your thesis.

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.

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.