How to Use StockSifting
A complete guide to analysing US stocks — from searching companies to reading financial statements.
Searching for a Stock
The fastest way to find any company on StockSifting is the search bar, available on the home page and in the top navigation on every page.
Enter the name (e.g., Apple, Tesla) or the ticker symbol (e.g., AAPL, TSLA) in the search bar. Results appear as an autocomplete dropdown — no need to press Enter.
The dropdown shows matching companies with their ticker symbol and exchange. Click any result to go directly to that company's analysis page.
Pressing Enter takes you to the full search results page, showing all matching companies with their current price and percentage change.
Reading a Company Analysis Page
A company page is the heart of StockSifting. It brings together everything you need to research a stock in one place. Here's what each section means:
Overview & Price Snapshot
At the top, you'll see the company's current stock price, today's change, market cap, exchange, sector, and industry. The 52-week high and low bars visually show where the current price sits in its annual range — a quick way to assess whether the stock is near its highs or lows.
Valuation Ratios
This section covers how the market prices the stock relative to its fundamentals:
- P/E Ratio — Price divided by earnings per share. Lower can mean undervalued, but context matters.
- Forward P/E — Based on next year's estimated earnings. Useful for growth stocks.
- EV/EBITDA — Enterprise value relative to operating profits. Good for comparing capital structures.
- Price/Book — Market value vs book value. A P/B below 1 may indicate undervaluation.
- Price/Sales — Useful for pre-profit growth companies.
Profitability Metrics
These ratios tell you how well a company converts revenue into profit:
- ROE (Return on Equity) — Profit generated on shareholders' capital. Above 15% is generally strong.
- ROCE (Return on Capital Employed) — Efficiency of total capital use, including debt. A key quality indicator.
- Net Margin — Percentage of revenue that becomes net profit.
- Operating Margin — Profit from core operations before interest and tax.
- Gross Margin — Revenue minus direct costs. Shows pricing power.
Financial Statements (Multi-Year)
Scroll down to see the last 4–5 years of:
- Profit & Loss — Revenue, operating income, net income, EPS
- Balance Sheet — Total assets, liabilities, shareholder equity, cash, debt
- Cash Flow Statement — Operating, investing, and financing cash flows; Free Cash Flow
Trend analysis across multiple years reveals whether a business is genuinely growing or stagnating.
Analyst Estimates
Wall Street analyst consensus data includes:
- Recommendation — Aggregated buy/hold/sell rating across all covering analysts
- Price Target — Average, high, and low 12-month price targets
- EPS Forecasts — Estimated earnings for current and next year/quarter
A wide gap between current price and average target can indicate either opportunity or analyst overoptimism — always dig deeper.
Dividend History & Corporate Actions
Review the company's dividend payment history (ex-dates and amounts) to understand income consistency and payout trends. The stock splits section shows historical split events, which is important context for long-term price chart analysis.
Using the Stock Screener
The Screens page lets you filter the entire US stock database using 30+ financial criteria simultaneously — ideal for finding investment ideas that match a specific strategy.
Click SCREENS in the top navigation bar. The page loads with all US stocks displayed in a sortable table.
Use the filter panel to set minimum/maximum ranges for metrics like P/E Ratio, Market Cap, ROE, Dividend Yield, and more. For example: P/E between 5–20, ROE above 15%, Market Cap above $1B.
Click any column header to sort by that metric — ascending or descending. Sorting by ROCE or ROE descending is a quick way to surface the most capital-efficient businesses.
Any row in the screener table links directly to that company's full analysis page. Use the screener to generate a shortlist, then do a deeper per-company review.
🗂 Example Screening Strategies
P/E < 15 · P/B < 1.5 · Debt/Equity < 1 · ROE > 12%
Dividend Yield > 3% · Payout sustainable · Market Cap > $5B
ROCE > 20% · Net Margin > 15% · Revenue growth positive
P/B < 1 · EV/EBITDA < 8 · Current Ratio > 1.5
Exploring Sectors & Industries
The Sectors and Industries pages let you browse stocks grouped by business category — useful for peer comparison and thematic research.
Find the links in the footer or navigate directly to /sectors or /industries. You'll see a list of all categories with the number of companies in each.
Opening a sector (e.g., "Technology") or industry (e.g., "Semiconductors") shows all companies in that group with their key metrics: P/E, market cap, ROE, ROCE, dividend yield, and 52-week range.
Sort the table by any column to instantly rank companies within the same sector by valuation, profitability, or size. This makes it easy to spot outliers — either unusually cheap or unusually expensive relative to peers.
Understanding Key Financial Metrics
Not sure what a particular number means? Here's a quick reference for the most important metrics on StockSifting:
| Metric | What It Measures | General Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| P/E Ratio | Price paid per dollar of earnings | Lower = cheaper; varies by sector |
| EV/EBITDA | Enterprise value vs operating profit | <10 often considered value |
| ROE | Return on shareholders' equity | >15% is generally strong |
| ROCE | Return on total capital employed | >15–20% indicates quality moat |
| Net Margin | % of revenue kept as net profit | Higher is better; varies by industry |
| Debt/Equity | Financial leverage of the company | <1 is conservative; >2 is high risk |
| Current Ratio | Short-term liquidity (assets vs liabilities) | >1.5 is comfortable |
| Free Cash Flow | Cash generated after capital expenditure | Positive FCF is a quality signal |
| Dividend Yield | Annual dividend as % of current price | Depends on income strategy |
| Market Cap | Total market value of the company | Large-cap (>$10B) · Mid ($2–10B) · Small (<$2B) |
For a deeper dive into how each metric is used in analysis, see our Stock Analysis Guide.
Managing Your Account
Click SIGN UP in the top right. Enter your name, email, and a password — or choose Continue with Google for one-click registration. A verification email will be sent to your address.
Open the verification email from StockSifting and click the link. This activates your account. If you don't receive it within a few minutes, check your spam folder.
Click LOGIN, enter your email and password (or use Google login). Your session stays active until you explicitly log out.
Click your name/avatar in the top right to open the user menu, then click Logout. Your session is immediately cleared.