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Will a stock split? How to tell if a stock is likely to split

How to tell if a stock is likely to split: who decides a split and why, the mechanical signals that precede a forward split, why a split is never guaranteed, and how the split-likelihood signal works.

Stock split ratios explained: 2:1, 1:10, 51:50, 2000:1973

Plain-English guide to every kind of stock split ratio: forward (2:1, 10:1), reverse (1:10), fractional stock-dividend splits (51:50, 103:100) and spin-off chart-stitching ratios (Disney 2000:1973).

Stock dividends vs cash dividends explained

Why some companies pay shareholders in extra shares instead of cash, and why those distributions show up as 51:50 or 103:100 fractional splits in corporate-actions tables.

Spin-offs explained: how the parent share price adjusts

How a corporate spin-off works, what shareholders receive, why the parent share drops on the ex-date, and how data vendors record chart-stitching ratios like 2000:1973.

Cumulative stock split multiplier explained

Cumulative split multiplier on stock-split tables: the running product formula, what reverse splits do, and how to read very large multiples.

Ex-dividend, record & payment dates explained

The four dividend dates — declaration, ex-dividend, record, payment — and the rule that decides whether you receive the next payout based on when you bought the share.

P/E ratio explained: trailing vs forward, normal ranges

P/E ratio explained: the formula, trailing vs forward multiples, typical sector ranges, and why a high P/E is not automatically overvaluation.

EPS explained: basic vs diluted earnings per share

How earnings per share is calculated, why analysts focus on diluted EPS, the role of preferred dividends, and how share buybacks lift EPS without changing the business.

Gross, operating & net profit margin explained

The three profit margins — gross, operating, net — what each excludes, the formulas, why industry-typical ranges differ, and how margin differs from markup.

SG&A expense explained: selling, general & administrative

What selling, general & administrative (SG&A) includes on the income statement, the SG&A-to-revenue ratio for peer comparison, and how SG&A differs from COGS and R&D.

Market capitalization explained: small to mega cap

Market capitalization: formula, size buckets (small to mega), free-float vs full cap, enterprise value difference, and the trillion-dollar club.

Dividend yield explained: formula, ranges, and the yield trap

What dividend yield is, how to calculate it from annual dividend and share price, typical ranges by sector, and when a high yield signals dividend cut risk rather than income opportunity.

Beta explained: market sensitivity, ranges, and limitations

What beta measures, how it is calculated from covariance with the market, how to read the number by range, and why a low beta does not guarantee safety.

Price-to-sales ratio (P/S) explained: formula, ranges, margin trap

Price-to-sales ratio: the formula, when P/S is more useful than P/E, typical ranges by sector, and the margin trap that makes the same P/S look very different across companies.

Company lifecycle stages explained: startup, growth, mature, decline

How companies move through four lifecycle stages — startup, growth, mature, and decline — and how each stage changes revenue growth, margins, dividends, and the right valuation metric.

Growth vs value stocks explained: definitions, metrics, and the value trap

What growth stocks and value stocks actually mean, how each style maps to the company lifecycle, which valuation metrics to use for each, and the value trap investors must avoid.

GAAP vs non-GAAP explained: what adjusted earnings really mean

GAAP follows the standardised rules every US public company must use. Non-GAAP is the adjusted version a company calculates itself. Learn the common add-backs (SBC, restructuring, intangible amortisation), the SEC reconciliation rule, and how to tell a fair adjustment from a red flag.

Free cash flow explained: why it differs from net income

Free cash flow = operating cash flow minus capital expenditures. Explains the formula, why net income over- or understates cash (depreciation, stock-based compensation, capex), how FCF margin works, and what a real example looks like.

Waterfall and bridge charts explained

The four standard sell-side decomposition charts — income statement waterfall, cash flow waterfall, profit bridge, free cash flow bridge — how to read them and what each one answers.

How to read an earnings report: EPS, revenue, beat/miss, guidance

How to read a quarterly earnings report: EPS, revenue vs earnings, beat/miss vs consensus, guidance, and why a stock can drop on a 'good' quarter. Includes a 5-point checklist.

Analyst estimate revisions explained

Why analysts revise EPS and revenue estimates between reports, what upward vs downward revision momentum signals, and how to read a "now / 30 / 60 / 90 days ago" revision trend.

Smart Consensus explained: accuracy-weighted crowd forecasts

How a crowd forecast can beat a simple average by weighting each contributor by their difficulty-adjusted track record — and why the weighting only activates after enough resolved estimates.

Beat-the-Street scoring explained

How prediction XP rewards both raw accuracy (scaled by difficulty) and beating the Wall Street consensus (scaled by how credible that consensus is) — and why low-coverage names pay for accuracy, not for beating a thin Street.

Fair value methodology explained: DCF, exit multiple, Graham

The four valuation methods behind a multi-method fair value — discounted cash flow, exit multiple, analyst target and the Graham number — and why combining them into a range beats any single point estimate.

Margin of safety explained

What margin of safety means, how it is calculated from price versus fair value, and why a larger discount to intrinsic value cushions the risk of being wrong.

Rule of 40 explained: growth + margin ≥ 40

The Rule of 40 formula for software companies: revenue growth % plus FCF margin %, why 40 is the threshold, the FCF vs EBITDA variant, the $15–20M ARR scale caveat, and its limitations.

Total return vs price return explained

Why dividends compound over decades, the difference between split-adjusted and dividend-adjusted closes, and why long-horizon return numbers diverge so dramatically.

Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) explained

CAGR formula, why CAGR is not the same as arithmetic average return, the link to the Rule of 72, and reference points for long-run market and economic growth.

Daily green & red streaks explained

How a session is classified as green, red or neutral, why we use a ±0.01% dead zone on dividend-adjusted returns, and what streaks do and do not measure.

Dividend Capture Strategy Explained

When dividend capture works, when it doesn't, and the math: the ex-dividend price drop, the 61-day tax rule, and the three risks that erode the strategy in practice.

Trading volume explained: liquidity, confirmation, and spikes

What daily trading volume measures, why it signals liquidity and confirms price moves, how to read it against average volume, and the misconceptions to avoid.

52-week range explained: high, low, and what your position means

What the 52-week high and low show, how to read where today's price sits within the range, and why proximity to the low or high reflects price history — not business quality.

Stock market seasonality explained: is July a good month?

Live average S&P 500 returns by calendar month, whether 'sell in May and go away' holds up, and which month has historically been strongest.

Company Knowledge: anchors, the tell, and a worked example

Knowing companies by ticker and chart

Size & Scale: anchors, the tell, and a worked example

A feel for how big a company really is

Profitability: anchors, the tell, and a worked example

Who earns — and how much

Cash & Reserves: anchors, the tell, and a worked example

A company's cash cushion

Chart Reading: anchors, the tell, and a worked example

Reading a trend and its momentum

Ranking Sense: anchors, the tell, and a worked example

Ordering companies by a metric

Forecasting: anchors, the tell, and a worked example

Predicting quarterly revenue and EPS