Stock screener by financial statements
Filter companies on your own conditions: revenue growth, earnings quality, debt, where the cash goes, dividends, the Piotroski F-score. 542 companies: US (S&P 500) — 497, Canada — 45. Reports only — no prices or multiples.*
Ready-made sets
Piotroski F-score
In the spirit of Joseph Piotroski's 2000 method: nine simple checks of whether a company improved year over year — profitability, cash flow, debt, liquidity, dilution, margin, turnover. The set keeps companies scoring 7 or more. The author also screened on price multiples; we use reports only.
Piotroski F-score ≥ 7 of 9.
Quality: high returns, low debt
No loss-making years in 10 years, return on equity above the sector, moderate debt (net debt ≤ 2× EBITDA), earnings backed by cash, no growth in share count. No “sensible price” check — we have no prices. Warren Buffett described similar criteria in his shareholder letters; this set is ours and is not affiliated with him.
No loss-making years in 10 years; ROE above the sector median; Net debt / EBITDA ≤ 2; Operating cash flow ≥ 80% of net income; Share count not growing (3 years).
Steady revenue and profit growth
Revenue up five years in a row, operating income growing faster than revenue (the business scales), growth backed by cash flow, moderate debt. No multiples such as PEG — they need prices. Philip Fisher and Peter Lynch described similar criteria in their books; this set is ours and is not affiliated with them.
Revenue up 5 years in a row; Operating income grows faster than revenue; Operating cash flow ≥ 80% of net income; Net debt / EBITDA ≤ 2.
Dividend stability
A dividend for each of the last 10 years, 3-year payouts no larger than net income and free cash flow (paid from earnings, not borrowing), no loss-making years in 5 years. No yield — that needs a price.
Dividends 10 years without a gap; Dividends ≤ 100% of net income and free cash flow; No loss-making years in 5 years.
No dilution, with buybacks
S&P 500 companies whose share count fell at least 5% in 3 years, stock-based pay is at most 5% of revenue, and buybacks plus dividends are covered by free cash flow.
Share count down 5%+ in 3 years; Stock-based compensation ≤ 5% of revenue; Buybacks + dividends covered by free cash flow.
Example: the “Steady revenue and profit growth” set on three companies
| Company | Revenue up 5 years in a row | Operating income grows faster than revenue | Operating cash flow ≥ 80% of net income | Net debt / EBITDA ≤ 2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft CorporationMSFT · US (S&P 500) | ✓ up 10 years in a row | ✓ operating income 20.6%/yr, revenue 16.1%/yr | ✓ cash flow = 135% of net income | ✓ 0.1× | passes |
| Apple Inc.AAPL · US (S&P 500) | ✗ up 2 years in a row | ✓ operating income 3.7%/yr, revenue 1.8%/yr | ✓ cash flow = 112% of net income | ✓ 0.4× | fails |
| The Coca-Cola CompanyKO · US (S&P 500) | ✓ up 5 years in a row | ✓ operating income 8.1%/yr, revenue 3.7%/yr | ✗ cash flow = 75% of net income | ✗ 2.4× | fails |
The full table has every company, any mix of filters and thresholds, sorting by column and a “why it failed” breakdown for each.
The full table with every filter and set is part of Plus.
Plus is available in the iOS app: App Store
Lists by set
- S&P 500 companies with revenue growth 10 years in a row
- S&P 500 companies with no net debt
- S&P 500 companies that paid dividends 10 years without a gap
- Piotroski F-score: S&P 500 companies scoring 8 or 9
- S&P 500 companies shrinking their share count
- Canadian companies with dividends 10 years without a gap
All filters and how we compute them
Growth
- Revenue up 5 years in a row (thresholds: 3 years, 5 years, 7 years, 10 years). Each year's revenue is above the year before, N times in a row ending with the latest annual report.
- Last year's revenue growth at least its 3-year average. Revenue growth in the latest year ≥ the average of the last three years' growth rates (y/y).
- Operating income grows faster than revenue. 3-year annualised growth of operating income > 3-year annualised revenue growth; operating income positive at both ends.
Earnings quality
- Operating cash flow ≥ 80% of net income (thresholds: 80%, 100%). 3-year sum of operating cash flow ÷ 3-year sum of net income attributable to shareholders. 3-year net income must be positive.
- Operating margin above the sector median. Operating income ÷ revenue in the latest year > the median for companies of the same market and sector in the screener (at least five companies).
- ROE above the sector median. Net income to shareholders ÷ average shareholders' equity (start and end of year) > the median for the same market and sector (at least five companies). Equity ≤ 0 — no ROE.
- No loss-making years in 5 years (thresholds: 3 years, 5 years, 10 years). Net income attributable to shareholders is positive in each of the last N years.
- Piotroski F-score ≥ 7 of 9 (thresholds: ≥ 6, ≥ 7, ≥ 8). Nine checks on the two latest annual reports: ROA > 0; operating cash flow > 0; ROA up; cash flow > net income; debt/assets down; current ratio up; no more shares; gross margin up; asset turnover up. The score is the number of checks passed; where a check has no data, the threshold scales with the number of checkable items (7 of 9 → 6 of 8 or 6 of 7, rounded up); fewer than seven checkable — “no data”. Not computed for banks and insurers — the method is for non-financial companies.
Debt
- Net debt / EBITDA ≤ 2 (thresholds: ≤ 0 (no net debt), ≤ 1, ≤ 2, ≤ 3). Net debt (borrowings, bonds and leases − cash) at the latest year-end ÷ that year's EBITDA (operating income + D&A from the filing). Net debt ≤ 0 passes any threshold.
- Interest ≤ 20% of operating income (thresholds: 10%, 20%, 30%). Interest expense in the latest year ÷ operating income of that year. Operating income ≤ 0 fails.
- Shareholders' equity above zero. Equity attributable to the parent's shareholders at the latest year-end > 0.
Where the cash goes
- Capex no more than operating cash flow. 3-year capex ≤ 3-year operating cash flow (free cash flow over 3 years ≥ 0).
- Minority interests ≤ 20% of net income (thresholds: 10%, 20%, 30%). Net income attributable to non-controlling interests over 3 years ÷ the group's total net income over 3 years (absolute values).
- Stock-based compensation ≤ 5% of revenue (thresholds: 2%, 5%, 10%). Stock-based compensation in the latest year ÷ revenue.
- Share count not growing (3 years) (thresholds: not growing, no more than before, −5% or less). Weighted diluted share count in the latest year ÷ three years earlier − 1 (split-adjusted). “Not growing” — at most +2% over 3 years.
To shareholders
- Dividends 5 years without a gap (thresholds: 3 years, 5 years, 10 years). A dividend above zero for each of the last N fiscal years (declared per share or paid per the cash flow statement). If the latest year has no decision yet, the run starts from the year before.
- Dividends ≤ 100% of net income and free cash flow. 3-year dividends ≤ 3-year net income to shareholders and ≤ 3-year free cash flow (operating cash flow − capex).
- Buybacks + dividends covered by free cash flow. 3-year buybacks + dividends ≤ 3-year free cash flow.
Corporate governance
- Our governance score ≥ 1.5 of 2 (thresholds: ≥ 1, ≥ 1.5, ≥ 2). WRT score 0–2: how fairly the company treats minority shareholders, based on dated, sourced facts (see the Corporate governance methodology). Not every company is scored.
Country and sector
Markets: the S&P 500 and 45 large Canadian companies (TSX, filing with the SEC). Sectors follow the site's sector pages.
Where the data comes from and what's missing
Annual filings: SEC EDGAR (XBRL) for the US and Canada; EBITDA is operating income plus depreciation and amortization from the filing. Filters on EBITDA, debt, capex and the F-score don't apply to banks and insurers and are marked so. If a line is missing from a filing, the company gets “no data”: such companies are left out by default and can be shown with a checkbox. We never fill gaps with estimates.
Data updated 2026-10-16.
* Not investment advice. The screener lists companies that formally meet the conditions you choose, based on published reports; it does not consider your goals, horizon or risk tolerance and does not say whether to buy or sell.
More
For information only — not investment, legal or tax advice and not a personal recommendation. You choose the criteria and thresholds; we don't know your financial situation and don't pick securities for you.
The ready-made sets are ours, built on published screening criteria — not picks by, or affiliated with, the authors of those ideas, not a ranking and not a promise of returns. Rows are alphabetical or sorted by the column you choose; the screener doesn't name “best” companies.
Data come from company filings (SEC EDGAR) and may contain errors or be out of date — check the original filing before any decision. Past results do not guarantee future results. No prices, market values or multiples are used.