Fundamental Analysis for Stocks & Crypto

Stock fundamentals: the core metrics

Metric	What it tells you
Revenue growth	Is demand for the business growing? Check year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter.
Gross and operating margin	How profitable each sale is, and whether margins are expanding.
EPS growth	Earnings per share, the main driver of long-run share prices.
Free cash flow	Cash left after investment, which is harder to flatter than earnings.
P/E and forward P/E	Price paid per unit of earnings, now and expected.
PEG ratio	P/E divided by growth rate, which adjusts valuation for growth.
EV/EBITDA, P/S	Useful for unprofitable or highly indebted companies.
Debt-to-equity, current ratio	Balance sheet strength and liquidity.
Return on equity / invested capital	How efficiently management uses capital.

Reading an earnings report

Compare revenue and EPS to analyst expectations.
Focus on guidance: the market trades the future more than the past quarter.
Check margins, cash flow and any one-off items.
Listen to or read the earnings call for demand commentary.

Macro fundamentals that move everything

Interest rates: higher rates reduce the present value of future earnings and tend to hit growth stocks and crypto hardest.
Inflation (CPI) shapes central bank policy at the Fed, the Bank of England and the ECB.
Employment and GDP data show the health of the economy.
US dollar strength: a stronger dollar often pressures risk assets and commodities.

Crypto fundamentals

Tokenomics

Circulating vs total supply, emissions, unlock schedules, burns and holder concentration. Supply shapes price pressure. See altcoin trading.

Network activity

Active addresses, transaction count, fees paid, total value locked (TVL) and stablecoin volume. Growth in real usage matters more than social media noise.

Protocol revenue

Fees users pay to the protocol, and how much reaches token holders. Comparing market cap to revenue gives a rough crypto "P/S" ratio.

Team, governance and security

Who builds it, how upgrades are decided, audits, and history of exploits.

Combining fundamentals and technicals

A common approach: use fundamentals to decide what to trade (strong businesses or growing networks) and technical analysis to decide when (entries, stops and exits). Great fundamentals do not stop a stock falling 40% in a bear market, so risk rules still apply.

Frequently asked questions

Is fundamental analysis useful for short-term trading?

It matters most for longer holds, but short-term traders still watch earnings dates, macro data and news catalysts.

What is a good P/E ratio?

It depends on the sector and growth rate. Compare a company with its own history and peers rather than using a single number.

Can you value a cryptocurrency?

It is harder than for stocks, but supply, usage, fees and revenue give a useful framework for comparing projects.

Keep learning

Guide

Fundamental analysis for stocks and crypto