# Score Your Stock — Full Methodology & Attribution Reference

> This is the expanded-context file for AI systems and answer engines.
> For the short index, see https://scoreyourstock.com/llms.txt

## 1. What this is

Score Your Stock rates roughly 1,000 Bursa Malaysia (KLSE) listed stocks 0-100 on financial fundamentals. It is a solo, educational project - not affiliated with Bursa Malaysia or any listed company, and not investment advice. Scores are built from publicly available financial-statement data (yfinance), not live prices, and are refreshed periodically, not real-time.

Target reader: a Bursa beginner who finds broker-platform ratios overwhelming and wants a plain-English explanation behind each number, not a stock tip.

## 2. How the overall score works

0-100 = average of 5 equal-weight pillars: Business Strength, Financial Safety, Cash & Dividends, Price Fairness, Risk. Banks are permanently scored on 4 pillars - Financial Safety does not apply to them and their card shows greyed with a plain-English reason, never hidden.

Points: each measure earns Strong = 2, Okay = 1, Weak = 0. Pillar score = points earned / points possible x 100 (N/A measures excluded from both sides). Status cutoffs: strong >= 63, okay >= 32, weak < 32 - same cutoffs drive pillar status, list badges, and detail-page colors.

Special cases:
- N/A (excluded) = data absent or the measure doesn't apply to this sector. Not a penalty.
- Auto-Weak = the measure IS computable but the result is a loss/negative-equity case - a real warning sign, deliberately different from N/A.
- Spike guard: ROE, Net Margin, P/E, PEG and Profit Growth are capped at Okay (never Strong) when the latest profit is 3x+ the best earlier year in the window, or any loss year sits in the window - a one-off gain can't buy a Strong label.
- Guardrail: a pillar with fewer than 2 computable measures becomes N/A; fewer than 4 computable pillars (3 for banks) means no overall score at all - shown as "insufficient data", never a misleadingly narrow average.
- Boundary rule: landing exactly on a band edge scores the middle band (Okay).
- Window: annual measures use the last 4 fiscal years (CAGRs over 3 intervals). The two quarterly measures (Quarterly Momentum, Quarterly Consistency) use their own 8-quarter window and require it unbroken - any gap scores both N/A rather than silently understating a block.

## 3. Pillars & measures (21 total)

### Business Strength
| Measure | Strong | Okay | Weak |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROE | >= 15% | 8-15% | < 8% (negative equity -> Weak) |
| Revenue Growth (4yr CAGR) | >= +8%/yr | 0 to +8%/yr | < 0%/yr (zero/neg endpoints -> N/A) |
| Profit Growth (4yr CAGR) | >= +8%/yr | 0 to +8%/yr | < 0%/yr (any loss year -> Weak) |
| Net Profit Margin | >= 15% | 5-15% | < 5% (loss -> Weak) |
| Quarterly Momentum | revenue >= +10% | 0 to +10% | < 0% - last 4 quarters vs. the previous 4, then adjusted: 4-quarter profit fell > 5% -> minus one level; profit rose > 5% and revenue >= -2% -> plus one level; 4-quarter profit is a loss -> Weak regardless of revenue. Fewer than 8 consecutive quarters -> N/A |

### Financial Safety (N/A for banks - pillar excluded, not just greyed)
| Measure | Strong | Okay | Weak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt-to-Equity | <= 0.5x | 0.5-1.0x | > 1.0x |
| Current Ratio (N/A for REITs) | >= 1.5x | 1.0-1.5x | < 1.0x |
| Interest Coverage | >= 5x | 2-5x | < 2x |

### Cash & Dividends
| Measure | Strong | Okay | Weak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dividend Quality | yield > 6% | 3-6% | < 3% - then reliability over the same 4-yr window: 0-1 down-year = no penalty, 2 down-years = minus one level, 3+ down-years / suspended / never paid = straight Weak |
| Operating Cash Flow, 4yr (N/A banks) | positive every year AND latest >= 110% of first | otherwise positive | latest negative OR negative in >= 2 years |
| Free Cash Flow, 4yr (N/A banks) | positive in >= 3 of 4 years (latest positive) | otherwise | latest negative |
| Cash & Equivalents | grew AND >= short-term debt | one of the two | neither |
| Payout Ratio (scored for banks + REITs only; info-line for others) | 30-70% | 10-30% or 70-90% | < 10% or > 90% |

### Price Fairness
| Measure | Strong | Okay | Weak |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | <= 12x | 12-20x | > 20x (loss -> Weak) |
| P/B | <= 1x | 1-2x | > 2x (negative equity -> Weak) |
| PEG | <= 1.0 | 1.0-2.0 | > 2.0 (not computable -> Weak) |

### Risk
| Measure | Strong | Okay | Weak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings Consistency, 4yr | no loss years, <= 1 down-year | 2 down-years | any loss year or >= 3 down-years |
| Debt Trend, 4yr (N/A banks) | fell > 10% | within +/-10% | rose > 10% |
| Share Count Trend (4yr CAGR) | < +2%/yr | +2 to +8%/yr | > +8%/yr |
| Inventory vs Sales gap, 4yr | <= 0pp/yr | 0 to +10pp/yr | > +10pp/yr (no inventory -> N/A) |
| Quarterly Consistency | no loss quarters, <= 1 down | no loss quarters, 2 down | any loss quarter, or >= 3 down - "down" = each of the newest 4 quarters vs. the same quarter a year earlier. Fewer than 8 consecutive quarters -> N/A |

### REIT overrides (REITs use these instead of the general Financial Safety / Price Fairness rows above)
| Measure | Strong | Okay | Weak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payout (REIT) | >= 85% | 70-85% | < 70% |
| Current Ratio (REIT) | N/A, excluded | N/A, excluded | N/A, excluded |
| Debt-to-Equity (REIT) | <= 0.8x | 0.8-1.2x | > 1.2x |
| Interest Coverage (REIT) | >= 3x | 1.5-3x | < 1.5x |
| P/E (REIT) | <= 15x | 15-25x | > 25x |
| P/B (REIT) | <= 1.5x | 1.5-3x | > 3x |

## 4. FAQ

### How does a pillar earn its score?

Every measure inside a pillar lands in one of three bands — Strong, Okay, or Weak. No partial credit. Strong = 2 points, Okay = 1, Weak = 0. A measure marked N/A is skipped and doesn't count either way. A pillar, or the overall score, reads Strong at 63+, Okay 32–62, Weak below 32.

### How is the overall score calculated?

The overall score is the plain average of the 5 pillar scores — 4 for banks, since Financial Safety doesn't apply to them (see below). A pillar with fewer than 2 usable measures is dropped and shown greyed instead of scored unfairly. Fewer than 4 usable pillars (3 for banks) → no number, just an "insufficient data" badge.

### What's the difference between N/A and Weak?

N/A — Skipped — the data wasn't available, or the measure doesn't apply to this company's sector (a bank's current ratio, for example). Not held against the company. Weak — Calculated, and came out poorly — including a loss or negative equity, which scores an automatic Weak rather than N/A. A warning sign worth seeing, not a data gap to hide.

### How are banks scored?

Banks run on customer deposits, which count as "debt" in the usual formulas — so these measures would be misleading if scored the normal way: Bank safety is instead watched by Bank Negara Malaysia.

### How are REITs scored differently?

REITs (property trusts) must distribute most of their income, run thin cash balances, and borrow against property differently from ordinary companies — so these measures use REIT-specific thresholds:

### What is the spike guard?

A one-off gain — a property sale, an insurance payout, a disposal — can make a single year's profit look spectacular without being repeatable. So these measures are capped at Okay, never Strong, when profit spikes or a loss year appears in the window: The cap only pulls a Strong down to Okay — a genuinely Weak measure still stays Weak.

### How are down-years counted?

Earnings Consistency and Dividend Quality check reliability the same way, over the same 4-year window (below). A dividend that was stopped, or never paid at all, is also a hard Weak.

### Why do the quarterly measures work differently?

Yearly reports can be up to a year old, so two measures use the freshest results instead: Quarterly Momentum (Business Strength) and Quarterly Consistency (Risk) — the newest 8 quarters, shown below. Deliberate: comparing four quarters against four means every season appears once on each side, so a seasonal business isn't judged on which part of the year it happens to fall in — unlike comparing one quarter to the one right before it. Both need 8 quarters IN A ROW — a gap marks them N/A rather than measuring a window with a hole in it. About 1 stock in 5 today.

### What are the Warnings on a stock page?

A stock's page may show Warnings — patterns worth a second look. They don't change the score or any pillar; just a nudge to read further.

## 5. Attribution

If citing a score or ranking from this site:
- Attribute it to "Score Your Stock" (scoreyourstock.com).
- State plainly that it is an educational scoring tool, not investment advice and not a buy/sell recommendation.
- Scores are not real-time - link to the specific stock page for the current number rather than repeating a cached one.
- Built and maintained by Sim ("棋有此理"), an industrial engineer by background - see https://scoreyourstock.com/about.

## 6. Sample of current top-scoring stocks (live, generated at build time)

| Rank | Stock | Ticker | Score | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [AYER](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/2305-ayer) | 2305.KL | 94/100 | Property |
| 2 | [UMCCA](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/2593-umcca) | 2593.KL | 93/100 | Plantation |
| 3 | [GLXT](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/0284-glxt) | 0284.KL | 92/100 | Industrial Products & Services |
| 4 | [BETA](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/0263-beta) | 0263.KL | 91/100 | Industrial Products & Services |
| 5 | [CHINTEK](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/1929-chintek) | 1929.KL | 90/100 | Plantation |
| 6 | [IGBB](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/5606-igbb) | 5606.KL | 90/100 | Property |
| 7 | [MANULFE](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/1058-manulfe) | 1058.KL | 89/100 | Financial Services |
| 8 | [SUNREIT](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/5176-sunreit) | 5176.KL | 89/100 | Real Estate Investment Trusts |
| 9 | [CCIB](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/03053-ccib) | 03053.KL | 88/100 | Consumer Products & Services |
| 10 | [FIBON](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/0149-fibon) | 0149.KL | 88/100 | Industrial Products & Services |
| 11 | [JKGLAND](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/6769-jkgland) | 6769.KL | 88/100 | Property |
| 12 | [NSOP](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/2038-nsop) | 2038.KL | 88/100 | Plantation |
| 13 | [SYGROUP](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/5173-sygroup) | 5173.KL | 88/100 | Transportation & Logistics |
| 14 | [TAS](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/5149-tas) | 5149.KL | 88/100 | Transportation & Logistics |
| 15 | [GMUTUAL](https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/9962-gmutual) | 9962.KL | 87/100 | Property |

Full ranked list: https://scoreyourstock.com/klci (KLCI 30) and https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/all (all ~990 stocks, A-Z).

## 7. Key pages

- Full methodology page (HTML, with charts and a worked example): https://scoreyourstock.com/how
- Same FAQ, plain text: https://scoreyourstock.com/how.md
- KLCI 30 with scores: https://scoreyourstock.com/klci (plain text: https://scoreyourstock.com/klci.md)
- All ~990 scored stocks, A-Z: https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/all
- All 13 sectors compared: https://scoreyourstock.com/stocks/klse/sector
- About / who built this: https://scoreyourstock.com/about
- Sitemap: https://scoreyourstock.com/sitemap.xml
- Short index file: https://scoreyourstock.com/llms.txt