Fundamental data at Zacks Trade

Yes, Zacks Trade 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

Tamás Gyuriczki

CFD • Options Trading • Market Analysis

As a seasoned CFD trader and financial expert at BrokerChooser, I contribute by leveraging my firsthand experience. I actively review many of the 100+ brokers that are listed on our site: opening accounts, executing trades and testing features. My expertise ensures our reviews guide users to the most suitable brokers for their needs.

Learn about our methodology

Tamás Gyuriczki

CFD • Options Trading • Market Analysis

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

• Zacks Trade 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
• Zacks Trade has generally high-quality research tools beyond fundamental data

Data updated on December 14, 2024

If you're new to stock investing, you'll probably welcome expert analysis and trading recommendations from your broker. However, if your broker doesn't provide such recommendations, or if you're already familiar with basic financial terms, it's probably a great time to start doing your own stock analysis. To be able to do that, you'll need fundamental data - that is, basic financial information about the companies you invest in.

The most common type of fundamental data provided by brokers and sought by investors is company earnings and valuations. Why are earnings data important? Generally, they can give you hints about how fast a company is growing, or whether it is capable of operating profitably in a consistent way.

Company valuations can help you judge whether the stock price adequately reflects a company's value. The most commonly used and perhaps most easily understood valuation is the P/E, or price-to-earnings ratio. It is calculated by dividing the share price by the company's per-share profits.

In most cases, a lower P/E ratio suggests that the stock may be undervalued and therefore present a buying opportunity; a higher P/E ratio may be a hint that the stock is overpriced and is best avoided (or sold). However, there is no 'ideal' P/E level, so the P/E ratio is best used for comparing stocks within the same industry, or a stock's current P/E to its past valuations. For more information, read our in-depth guide to how the P/E ratio works.

There are several other valuation metrics that you may find among stock data provided by your broker:

• EV/EBITDA - Enterprise Value to Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization. This metric is often used to complement P/E in capital-intensive industries such as automotive, steel or oil/gas.
• P/BV - Price to Book Value. This valuation metric is best used for companies where tangible assets are the 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 rather than the book value of assets. It is the preferred metric for real estate companies, among others.

Other fundamental data provided by broker platforms may include a short summary of the company's history, products and services; regulatory filings by the company (e.g. about issuing new shares or getting fined by the authorities); or a calendar showing upcoming earnings reports and shareholder meetings.

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? Zacks Trade has some research tools to help you out, though quality may vary:

Data updated on December 14, 2024

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