what is the piotroski score 
the piotroski score is a discrete score between zero and nine that reflects nine criteria used to determine the strength of a firm s financial position the piotroski score is used to determine the best value stocks with nine being the best and zero being the worst the piotroski score was named after the chicago accounting professor joseph piotroski who devised the scale according to specific aspects of company financial statements aspects are focused on the company s accounting results in recent time periods years for every criterion met noted below one point is awarded otherwise no points are awarded the points are then added up to determine the best value stocks understanding the piotroski scorethe piotroski score is broken down into the following categories reading the scoreif a company has a score of 8 or 9 it is considered a good value if the score adds up to between 0 and 2 points the stock is considered weak piotroski s april 2000 paper value investing the use of historical financial statement information to separate winners from losers demonstrated that the piotroski score method would have seen a 23 annual return between 1976 and 1996 if the expected winners were bought and expected losers shorted 1as a starting point piotroski suggested investors begin with a sample of the bottom 20 of the market in terms of price to book value of course with any investment system looking at past results doesn t mean it will work the same way in the future those interested in learning more about the piotroski score and other financial topics may want to consider enrolling in one of the best investing courses currently available example of the piotroski scoreas an example of the piotroski scoring method in action note the following criteria calculations for the hypothetical company xyz the profitability calculations are as follows the leverage calculations are as follows the efficiency calculations are as follows xyz s total piotroski score was a 6 out of 9 which could make it an average value proposition going forward according to the piotroski method 