How to recognize if a stock is worth investing in?
What causes a stock to be good or bad?
What things to consider?
By Guy Avtalyon
How to know if a stock is worth buying? Let’s assume you are new in this field and how you can decide what stock to buy. For some investors, it is a tricky part. To be honest, it is hard for everyone. The risk is involved, the volatility of stock or market, the investment goal. Everything is on the table. But if you follow some rules connected to the estimation you can figure out how to know if the stock is worth buying. Yes, many people will tell you stock investing is like a wheel of fortune. And they are wrong. Investing is like solving the problem. Everyone has its own way, own style, but the goal is the same: solving a problem.
Prudent investors must enter the stock investing as if they have to solve a problem. Step by step.
Buying stock isn’t like buying a new sofa and when you find it isn’t for your room you can take it back. When you buy stocks, you have to be convinced they will hold their value, increase in value, and you will gain profit when you sell or deliver to you notable dividends over time. The main point is to know when a stock is worth buying.
Look at the price
When you have to decide if some stock is worth buying the first thing you will find is its price. You have to figure out how much the ownership of shares in some companies will cost you.
The amount of money you have in your hands will determine how many shares you can buy but the most important is to know historical data about particular stock prices. If you find the stock has steadily increased over time you will know that you can expect a good value in the future.
Pay attention to revenue growth
Share prices will grow if a company is growing. A company is growing when rising its revenue. Increasing revenue will show you if the company is strong. We can say it is a major indicator often called top line. The important part is not looking at revenue isolated. You have to observe all rise and drops in each quarter and year. And here is the tricky part. The positive trendline is good for the stock price but the revenue may be dropping or be flat and it is important to understand why that is.
You should check the company’s current holdings, projections for future operations and stability. If you hear or read some news, no matter if they are local or even rumors that the company is doing bad, it is better to step back. You wouldn’t like to hold stocks with so much stress. Your money is involved and you could lose everything invested. So, check the company’s revenue, it is easy since almost all companies have their official websites where you can find all this info.
But keep one thing in mind. If it is a temporary situation and historical data shows its stock was good in price that can be good for you to buy a stock at a low price and wait for it to rebound over time.
Some stocks may temporarily drop in price and it can be a good deal to buy them now because they have the potential to recover.
What is the company’s earnings per share
This info is important and you can easily count it. Just divide the leftover amount at the end of each quarter by the number of shares the company has sold, and you get the earnings per share. For example, if a company made $100 million in profits in the prior year and has 52 million shares, the earnings per share is $1.92. As an investor, you should pay attention to this since the higher earnings per share (EPS) shows you that the company is in good shape. And the tricky part again arises. Some companies can manipulate with EPS. The process is simple. They do it by buying back their shares. In that way, they are boosting EPS but not increasing profits.
Use the technical and fundamental analysis to know if a stock is worth buying
You will have some idea about stock’s quality if you check the prices over the past 200 days, for example. And you will see the trends. Trends are repeating.
Analysts think that by observing the movement over a determined period, you can define the baseline, the point where the stock should recover. Here the advice, don’t buy the stock at its highs, wait to come close to the baseline or to hit it. Some may ask how is good stock if hits the baseline. Well, when the stock hits the peak it is expensive, the price is increased, and the stock has no more space to run so the only possible scenario is to go down. If you buy a stock at its peak you will lose your money. So, it isn’t a good time to buy a stock.
Also, perform fundamental analysis. That will show the current and projected financial aspect. Use that info to discover now’s value. Use the company’s statement and balance sheet to determine the business strength. It isn’t a 100% indicator, but it is enough good sign of what you can expect from the company in the foreseeable future.
How to know if a stock is worth buying
One thing is sure and you must have that in mind when you are trying to know if a stock is worth buying.
A company can’t manage every single thing that might affect the business. The general economy can influence the health of a company and its stock play. For example, consumer prices, the changes to interest rates can affect how a company is doing. That is not in connection with its own business. But, the stable economy produces companies’ wealth and share increases come with that. And opposite, share prices can stumble during times of economic uncertainty.
You will find many analysts that issue reports and tips about individual stocks. These tips appear with “buy” or “sell” ratings. But analysts often disagree, so it isn’t recommended to depend on one report. Always compare several to know if a stock is worth buying.
