Fundamental data at Qtrade Direct Investing

Yes, Qtrade Direct Investing offers fundamental data on stocks and other assets to help your independent analysis before investing.

My key findings in a nutshell

My key findings in a nutshell

Oskar Golebiowski

Oskar is a former Canadian broker expert for BrokerChooser. Oskar's goal is to bring transparency to investors in the Canadian stock brokerage market. With a bachelor’s degree in finance and over 3 years of business experience, Oskar has tested many different investing platforms in the past. His aim is to provide unbiased and honest reviews of the best tools available to Canadian investors.

Learn about our methodology

Oskar Golebiowski

I've thoroughly tested Qtrade Direct Investing services with our analyst team by opening a real-money account and these are my most important findings:

• Qtrade Direct Investing offers fundamental data on stocks, such as earnings or valuations
• Fundamental data can help you assess the current health and future potential of a stock
• Qtrade Direct Investing has generally poor research tools beyond fundamental data

Data updated on October 10, 2023

If you have just started investing in stocks, it's a good idea to seek out analyst recommendations or trading ideas by experts. But if these aren't available at your broker, or maybe if you already have some basic financial knowledge, then you might as well dive in and start doing your own stock analysis. Such analysis, however, is impossible without access to fundamental data - that is, financial and operational information about the companies you invest in.

Company earnings and valuations are the most common type of fundamental data available at online brokers. Company earnings are important because they can give you an idea of how fast the company is growing or how profitable its operations are.

Company valuations can help you tell whether the company's value is adequately expressed by the share price. One of the most popular valuations, and one that is easily grasped even by beginner investors, is the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. You can calculate the P/E ratio by dividing the share price by the company's per-share profits.

How to use the P/E ratio? Generally, a lower P/E ratio is a hint that the stock is possibly undervalued and may be a good buying opportunity; while a higher P/E ratio may be a sign that the stock is overpriced and you should avoid it (or sell it). There is no 'ideal' P/E level, though, so the P/E ratio is usually used instead to compare a stock's current P/E to its historical valuations, or to compare stocks within the same industry. To find out more, check out our in-depth guide to how the P/E ratio works.

If you look at fundamental data provided by brokers, you may find several other valuation metrics:

• EV/EBITDA - Enterprise Value to Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization. EV/EBITDA is often used alongside P/E in capital-intensive industries such as steel, automotive or oil/gas.
• P/BV - Price to Book Value. This metric is most suitable for companies whose tangible assets are their main source of income, such as banks.
• P/NAV - Price to Net Asset Value. P/NAV is similar to P/BV but is calculated by using the market value of assets instead of their book value. Among others, P/NAV is the preferred metric for real estate companies.

In addition to earnings and valuation data, online brokers often provide other fundamental data on stocks. These may include a brief summary of the company's products, services and history; a calendar of upcoming events such as shareholder meetings or earnings reports; or regulatory filings (e.g. about issuing new shares or getting fined by the authorities).

To find out more about how brokers can aid your independent stock research, read our overview of the most common brokerage research tools.

Fundamental data not available or not enough for you? Qtrade Direct Investing has some research tools to help you out, though quality may vary:

Data updated on October 10, 2023

Are you in the stock market for the long term? Check out our list of the top brokers for buy-and-hold investors.