GrowthIntelDemonstration exercise · GrowthIntel editorial · 19 October 2026
From a stock screen to a research note: a worked exercise
Follow a fictional growth-stock candidate from screening through cash-flow checks, a counterargument and a reviewable research note, without a buy recommendation.
Educational material, not personalised advice or an instruction to trade. Historical sources and illustrative examples are not current market data.
A fictional candidate, not a stock tip
Imagine Example Software, a fictional company that appears in a revenue-growth screen. Every number in this exercise is invented for teaching: revenue increased from 100 to 125 units, operating cash flow was 8 units and diluted shares rose from 10 to 12. These are not market data or a representation of any real company.
The initial question is not 'should I buy?' It is 'what explains the growth, and what evidence would show whether it benefits each share?' A screen identifies a research candidate, not an investment decision.
Make the first calculation auditable
Revenue grew 25%: (125 - 100) / 100. Revenue per diluted share rose from 10 to about 10.42 units, roughly 4.2%, because the share count also increased. That does not establish shareholder value or earnings quality, but it shows why a headline growth figure can be incomplete.
The cash-flow figure needs context. We do not know the previous period, working-capital movements, capital spending or definition of the measure. Do not fill those gaps with zero or infer a healthy trend from one positive number.
Write the counterargument first
A provisional explanation might be that customer demand increased. An alternative is that an acquisition, pricing change or temporary contract drove the result. Each explanation needs a different source check. Record which filing section, customer disclosure or reconciliation would help distinguish them.
Do not attach a target price to this exercise. We have no current share price, valuation assumptions, balance-sheet evidence or reliable forecast. A useful research note can end with questions rather than a recommendation.
The finished note
Established within the fictional exercise: revenue grew 25%; shares grew 20%; revenue per share rose about 4.2%. Unresolved: organic versus acquired growth, repeatability, cash conversion, financial obligations and valuation. Next action: inspect the comparable-period accounts and reconcile the share-count change.
A review trigger would be a new filing or a material business event, not a website refresh timestamp. You can explore the proposed workflow in GrowthIntel's sample-data demo, but the fictional calculations here are independent of the demo's company scores.
Try the research process
Explore GrowthIntel with illustrative sample data, or download the research-note worksheet. Neither provides a current buy recommendation.
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