Value Score
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The Value Score is YCharts proprietary measurement of value - how much an investor is getting for what he or she pays.
Based on historical testing, portfolios of stocks with a Value Score of 10 historically outperformed the S&P 500 substantially, and portfolios of stocks with a score of 1 substantially underperformed the S&P 500.
The Value Score is a composite score. It tells you how much you are getting in terms of profits, cash flows, assets, sales, etc. for the price that you pay. It is a relative measurement, so it says nothing about the overall level of the market. Rather, it answers the question: “Given the current market level, which stocks give you the most current value for your dollar of investment?” Tens are the most value, and 1s are the least.
The major limit to the Value Score is that it is backward looking: Watch out for companies with a lot of uncertainty or bad prospects for the future (eg. Pharma companies with expiring patents, industries on the decline, etc.).
Formula
The value score is a proprietary measurement, so we do not disclose the the details of the calculation. If you want to learn about the components in detail, you can read our value score description in the support center.
