When it comes to buying stocks, there is so much information to consider. Using ratios and other market data, investors can make insightful investing decisions. But, where do investors get the information needed to make those decisions? And are there tools that can help you refine the data? There are many free stock research sites to help narrow down and process the information, which we’ll explore in this article. Key factors to consider during your research include a company’s leadership, history, financials, and competitors. Fortunately, the best free stock research sites help break down this information. Keep reading to learn more!

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What is stock research and why do I need it?

Stock research helps you evaluate the true value of a company. Often, companies can be over or under valued in any given market for a number of reasons. Most investors attempt to find companies that are under valued.

Stock research looks at a company’s financials, its history, the executive team, and how its competitors are performing. Many investors also assess financial metrics, such as ratios and graphs. Ultimately, stock research helps an investor decide if a stock is worth investing in.

Given the same research, no two investors will come to the same decision. This is because each investor has their own financial goals and risk tolerance. What might be considered valuable to one investor may not be considered valuable to another for this reason.

Unfortunately, not many people have the time to do comprehensive stock research. With so many free online resources, there are many ways to stay informed and gather data quickly. Using a research site will allow you to make more confident investments.

First, you need to understand what key information should be considered when using free stock research sites. In general, stock research needs to be narrowed down by:

Reviewing a Company’s Financials

A publicly traded company is required to disclose their financial information, usually on a quarterly and annual basis. These include balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements and accompanying notes. Investors can perform financial analysis using financial statements.

Key Ratios and Metrics

Financial reports contain a bunch of information, some of which can be difficult to understand as a beginner. Familiarize yourself with key financial terms and utilize them to calculate ratios and metrics. From there, you can make informed investing decisions. A few key pieces of information you’ll want to review include revenue, net income, earnings per share, return on equity and return on assets.

Assess Qualitative Information About a Company

You need to know you agree with the company philosophically before moving forward with an investment. The stock market may be to earn money, but there’s more to it than that. Most value traders will want to own a stock because they understand the business of the stock. Further, because they agree with the company’s values and their goals. Ask these questions to determine if you agree with the qualitative aspect of a company:

• Where does a company get its money from? Sales, services, commodities, rentals, licensing, manufacturing, or some kind of combination?
• Is the company an industry innovator or leader? Will they continue to grow and lead?
• What is their competition doing?
• Who is running the company? Research and get to know the executive team and board of directors. Do they have proven experience or past success?
• What are the potential weaknesses of the company?
• Can market trends change in their industry?
• Is there internal shuffling and restructuring?

Compare Your Research to Historical Research

If you have reviewed all the above, your final step is to look at the history of a company and compare it to the present. How did a company do in the past? What were some of their challenges? Who led the company through those challenges? Then compare modern-day and future projections of a company with its past.  

How to get stock research reports for free?

Now that you understand the abundance of information held in stock research, there are several free stock research sites that will gather a lot of this information for you. They clearly organize it and help you understand a company. However, each stock research site focuses on different information.

There are also paid stock research sites and tools. Many free resources are offered by subscription services to show their value before you commit to the recurring fees. By using the free version, you can usually access basic stock research. But if you upgrade to the paid plan, you can access more information, often in real time.

10 Best Free Stock Research Sites

Most stock research sites have premium subscription services. However, they often offer many free articles, advisor opinions, and stock information if you don’t want to pay for the service. Here are the best free stock research sites, even if they may have premium upgrades. The free resources on all the below websites are very helpful to the beginner investor. If you ever want more information, you can always upgrade to a paid plan.

1. Yahoo! Finance

Yahoo! Finance has been a standing source of financial research for many years. It is very substantive in the information it offers for free. It offers details about company financials, history, day-to-day news and much more. Yahoo! Finance has a subscription service as well. This gets you access to even more information and tools.

2. Motley Fool Stock Advisor

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor is one of the most reputable stock-picking services. This is a paid service, however. To entice people into their paid services they offer significant free content. This includes educational content on stocks. They also offer opinion pieces about particular stocks written by analysts.

3. Zacks Investment Research

Zack Investment Research is a popular and successful stock-picking service. Their selected stocks consistently outperform the S&P 500. While their free resource does not include the list of their top picks, it is still very useful. You get access to their e-newsletter, portfolio trackers, and more.

4. Questrade

Questrade is a trading platform that earns money from your trades. As Questrade needs people to use their platform to earn money, they offer significant resources and information on stock research.

5. Tipranks

Tipranks offers insights into what analysts think of a particular stock. It displays this information in super simple language by providing clear rantings (strong sell to strong buy). Individual analysts are ranked for the success of their predictions and ratings. While there is a free feature it can be limited. Subscription gets you access to more information.

6. Morningstar Investment Research

Morningstar Investment Research is a popular stock analysis website. With their free subscription, you gain access to their articles. As well as limited stock screening and limited access to other features. Their detailed analysis reports and top investment picks are limited to paid memberships.

7. Seeking Alpha

Seeking Alpha is a stock research service which publishes significant amounts of articles. Their free service allows you access to any of their articles on any stock. Although you can only read up to 5 articles a month for free. These articles break down significant amounts of information into easily digestible reads.

8. Stock Rover

Stock Rover offers a free plan. This website’s focal point is its stock screening. Which allows you to search for companies using specific financial criteria. It has information on 8,500 North American Stocks. Beyond this strength, it also has detailed financial news, stock charts, and much more.

9. FINVIZ

FINVIZ gives you access to many of its features for free. You can use their well-known stock screener, and portfolio management tools, get trading data, and use their powerful search engine. This free service will have useful functions for beginners and advanced traders.

10. TradingView

TradingView offers a free basic plan. This is a social media platform for investors. On this platform, you can exchange information or follow investors. The platform has watchlists, stock ratings, and much more.  

What is the best free stock prediction website?

All the above free stock research sites provide significant value. They each specialize in different areas. When it comes to stock predictions, The Motley Fool Stock Advisor and Zack Investment Research offer the best historical results with their stock-picking services. However, these are not free services, and their results are not guaranteed. Both these sites offer free resources which may point you in the right direction.

Overall, it is always best to conduct your own research, using the tools available to you. Test the above sites, and see what you like and do not like. Follow some stocks based on the information you find. Then decide if you are ready to invest in any of the companies you follow. It is important to always make informed decisions with stocks. Ensure you never invest more than you can risk losing.

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How do I research stocks on my own?

Researching stocks often becomes a combination of using publicly available information and assessing metrics that have worked for you in the past. Ultimately, each investor devises their own approach to assessing the market based on their goals and risk tolerance. You can begin researching stocks on your own by reading free information and research available on any of the websites above. From there, you can formulate your own opinions as an investor and see how your decisions perform. It might be a bit of trial and error process, but with dedication you’ll find an investing approach that works for you!

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