what is stock analysis 
stock analysis is the evaluation of a particular trading instrument an investment sector or the market as a whole stock analysts attempt to determine the future activity of an instrument sector or market understanding stock analysisstock analysis is a method for investors and traders to make buying and selling decisions by studying and evaluating past and current data investors and traders attempt to gain an edge in the markets by making informed decisions the notion of stock analysis relies on the assumption that available market information can be used to determine the intrinsic value of a stock in the primary methods discussed below investors use financial statements stock price movement market indicators or industry trends to make investment decisions much of this strategy relies on leveraging historical information for instance investors may analyze a company s stock based on it s financial performance an analyst that is trying to determine the fair price of that stock may strive to understand how similar companies of similar performance performed in the past there are two basic types of stock analysis fundamental analysis and technical analysis each method is discussed more in depth below fundamental analysisfundamental analysis concentrates on data from sources including financial records economic reports company assets and market share to conduct fundamental analysis on a public company or sector investors and analysts typically analyze the metrics on a company s financial statements balance sheet income statement cash flow statement and footnotes these statements are released to the public in the form of a 10 q or 10 k report through the database system edgar which is administered by the u s securities and exchange commission sec also the earnings report released by a company during its quarterly earnings press release is analyzed by investors who look to ascertain how much in revenue expenses and profits a company made companies often release their financial statement information on set cadences with predictable release periods 