Skip to main content

Alpha Ratings

The Alpha Ratings category includes composite and individual ratings that evaluate performance across key dimensions—earnings growth, sales momentum, profit quality, institutional activity, liquidity, valuation strength, and market leadership. These metrics combine technical and fundamental data, enabling detailed ranking and screening of tickers, industries, and themes on both short-term and long-term horizons.

These ratings power MarketAlpha’s broader analysis engine, including the AI Strategy model, the MarketAlpha Rating, and the Top Alpha Setup of the day. They can be used independently for structured screening or in combination to filter setups with strong multi-factor support. High scores typically align with leadership in earnings, price performance, group strength, and liquidity—helping focus attention on tickers with sustained momentum or emerging strength.

These ratings significantly reduce the time required to perform complex fundamental and technical analysis by automating the evaluation of core growth metrics, institutional flow, and price leadership. For example, the EPS, Sales, and Profit Ratings help isolate companies with strong and improving financials; the Liquidity Rating filters for tickers suitable for scalable execution; the Accumulation/Distribution Score flags early institutional activity; and the Industry/Theme Ratings highlight rotating sector strength. Used individually or together, these metrics accelerate research, improve screening precision, and surface trade-ready opportunities aligned with current market dynamics.

MarketAlpha Rating​

The MarketAlpha Rating is a composite rating that consolidates multiple technical, fundamental, and group-based signals into a single relative ranking across all companies on the platform. Ratings range from 1 to 99, with 99 indicating the strongest overall performance.

It highlights companies that demonstrate well-rounded leadership across earnings strength, revenue growth, profitability, price momentum, and institutional activity.

Inputs include:

  • EPS Rating – non-GAAP earnings growth over the last two quarters and trailing four-quarter annual growth over up to five years
  • Sales Rating – non-GAAP sales growth over the last two quarters and multi-year annual growth on a trailing basis
  • Profit Rating – includes after-tax margin growth (3 quarters), return on equity (ROE), and long-term pre-tax margin trends
  • Accumulation/Distribution Score – institutional buying/selling pressure based on volume patterns, daily closes, and a 50-day price/volume model
  • Relative Strength 1Y – 12-month performance relative to peers
  • Industry/Theme Rating 1Y – sector-based outperformance weighted by price trends, leadership consistency, and proximity to long-term highs
  • Proximity to 52-week highs – measures how close the current price is to its yearly high, used as a proxy for breakout potential

Greater weight is assigned to EPS Rating and 1-year Relative Strength, reflecting long-term quality and momentum.

This rating simplifies multi-dimensional research into a single actionable signal, ideal for uncovering names with strong momentum, durable fundamentals, and consistent group leadership.

Compact Name: Alpha Rating

Real-Time
MarketAlpha LeadersMarketAlpha Losers

Top Alpha Setup​

The Top Alpha Setup identifies the most compelling setup of the day, based on MarketAlpha’s AI-selected Alpha Strategy (Long or Short) and enhanced by a comprehensive multi-factor evaluation. The signal adapts to the current market session—whether pre-market, regular hours, or post-market—to reflect only data that is available and relevant in real time.

Inclusion criteria:

  • The AI-recommended Alpha Strategy – directional bias: Long or Short
  • High AI Certainty Score – only setups with strong model confidence
  • Acceptable AI-calculated Risk/Reward – only setups with a ratio of 2.0 or higher
  • Low AI-calculated Path to Target – only setups with 2 or fewer resistance/support zones between price and target
  • High Liquidity – Liquidity Rating above 70 to meet liquidity thresholds for reliable fills
  • Acceptable Volume — Minimum daily volume of 100k to ensure tradability
  • Acceptable Volatility — Must fall within a reasonable volatility range (avoiding extreme spikes or low-ATR compression setups)

The selection process includes:

  • Chart structure – pivots, breakouts, trendlines, and AVWAP alignment
  • Gap analysis – types, strength, direction, and follow-through at open
  • Price action patterns – including divergence and reversal conditions
  • Volume behavior – confirmation of accumulation, exhaustion, or breakout flow
  • Fundamental ratings – EPS, Sales, Profit, Liquidity, Accumulation/Distribution
  • Group strength – real-time and 1Y industry/theme performance
  • Multi-timeframe consistency – daily and intraday signal convergence
  • Other Proprietary AI models – applied to score overall setup quality

The signal is continuously monitored and recalculated in real-time based on evolving price action and updated data throughout each trading session.

This is a high-conviction, AI-driven signal designed to surface tickers with the strongest alignment of timing, structure, and multi-factor confirmation during active market conditions.

Compact Name: Alpha Setup

Real-Time
Top Alpha SetupsTop Alpha Setups (All)Top Alpha Setups R/R 3+

Liquidity Rating​

The Liquidity Rating measures demand relative to tradable supply and provides a dynamic, relative ranking across all companies on the platform. Ratings range from 1 to 99, with higher values indicating stronger liquidity and better suitability for consistent execution. It helps surface symbols that support reliable fills, larger sizing, and institutional-level activity.

Inputs include:

  • Price – higher-priced symbols generally exhibit better execution quality and attract broader interest; extremely low prices tend to correspond with lower liquidity
  • Dollar volume – total daily trading value (price × volume); higher dollar volume reflects stronger capital participation and real-time demand
  • Average trading volume – captures sustained activity over multiple sessions, filtering out one-off spikes or anomalies
  • Free float – number of shares available for trading; higher float supports deeper order books and reduces slippage risk
  • Other proprietary indicators – adjusts raw activity for consistency across price levels, volatility regimes, and market caps, measured over up to 50 trading days

This rating is useful for narrowing focus to liquid symbols that can absorb meaningful order flow, support efficient execution, and align with systematic or discretionary strategies requiring scalable setups.

Regular Close
LiquidLiquid Pre-MarketLiquid Post-Market

EPS Rating​

The EPS Rating measures a company’s earnings-per-share performance relative to all others on the platform. Ratings range from 1 to 99, with 99 representing the strongest relative EPS growth. This rating captures both near-term earnings momentum and long-term earnings strength using normalized, recurring earnings data.

Inputs include:

  • Recent EPS growth – performance over the most recent two quarters
  • Annual EPS growth – trailing four-quarter growth across up to five years
  • Non-GAAP adjustment – excludes one-time events such as asset sales, tax benefits, or restructuring costs to isolate recurring earnings power
  • Relative scoring – dynamically ranked against all tracked companies to highlight leaders and laggards

This rating is especially useful when identifying earnings-driven breakouts, uncovering consistent compounders, or benchmarking profitability momentum across peers.

Daily
EPS LeadersEPS Losers

Sales Rating​

The Sales Rating evaluates a company’s revenue growth trajectory compared to all others on the platform. It captures both recent acceleration and multi-year expansion, normalized to focus on sustainable top-line performance. Ratings range from 1 to 99, with 99 representing the highest relative sales performance.

Inputs include:

  • Recent revenue growth – over the last two reported quarters
  • Annual revenue growth – trailing four-quarter performance across up to five years
  • Non-GAAP normalization – excludes one-time impacts from M&A, divestitures, or temporary revenue spikes
  • Relative scoring – ranks each company against peers across all sectors and market caps

This rating is useful for identifying companies with early-stage growth potential, surfacing top-line acceleration ahead of profitability improvements, and comparing peer strength in expanding sectors.

Daily
Sales LeadersSales Losers

Profit Rating​

The Profit Rating measures a company’s profitability by combining margin performance and capital efficiency over multiple timeframes. It is designed to capture both recent improvements and long-term consistency in profit generation. Ratings range from 1 to 99, with 99 indicating the strongest combination of profitability and capital efficiency relative to peers.

Inputs include:

  • After-tax margin growth – trend over the last three reported quarters
  • Return on equity (ROE) – measured across up to five years
  • Pre-tax margin growth – evaluated over up to five years
  • Trailing four-quarter calculation – applied to all metrics to ensure comparability across industries and reporting formats

This rating is useful for screening high-quality businesses with strong margins and durable profitability, identifying companies with improving operational leverage or scalable financial models, and pairing with EPS and Sales Ratings to build a complete view of financial strength.

Daily
Profit Margin LeadersProfit Margin Losers

Accumulation/Distribution Score​

The Accumulation/Distribution Score measures institutional buying or selling pressure over a one-quarter period using a composite of volume and price behavior. Inputs include:

  • 50-day average volume
  • Daily closing ranges (close vs. range)
  • Relative price position vs. prior closes
  • Magnitude and direction of daily price changes
  • Other proprietary indicators to capture recent baselines

The score ranges from -3 to +3:

  • +3 indicates persistent accumulation (strong institutional buying)
  • -3 reflects sustained distribution (institutional selling pressure)

This metric is designed to detect quiet accumulation ahead of breakouts or early signs of large-scale exits. It is especially useful when layered with technical or fundamental metrics to confirm setup conviction.

Compact Name: Acc/Dis Score

Regular Close
Institutional AccumulationInstitutional DistributionInst. Accumulation of LosersInst. Distribution of Leaders

Fundamentals Rating​

The Fundamentals Rating aggregates 8 weighted financial metrics over the trailing 12 months, providing a composite view of valuation, profitability, and balance sheet strength. It is scored from A (strongest) to F (weakest).

The metrics include:

  • Price to Cash Flow (P/CF)
  • Price to Earnings Growth (P/EG)
  • Price to Sales (P/S)
  • Debt to Equity (D/E)
  • Price to Book (P/B)
  • Price to Earnings (P/E)
  • Return on Assets (ROA)
  • Return on Equity (ROE)

This rating enables quick filtering for fundamentally sound companies and is useful for identifying undervalued leaders, quality compounders, or candidates for long-term screening frameworks.

Compact Name: FNDM Rating

Daily
Strong Fundamentals Rating

Industry Rating 1 Year​

The Industry Rating (1Y) ranks each industry by its 12-month relative performance. Ratings range from 1 to 99, where 99 indicates that the industry has outperformed 99% of all other themes and industries over 1 year.

The rating is based on aggregate data from companies within each industry and includes the following inputs:

  • Total price performance over the past 12 months
  • Distance to 52-week highs
  • 1-year Relative Strength
  • Other proprietary momentum indicators

Greater weight is given to recent momentum and leadership persistence to highlight industries that are not only outperforming historically but continue to demonstrate strength.

This rating is particularly useful for identifying sustained outperformers, rotational leadership, and long-term relative strength clusters—especially when layering with technical setups, earnings trends, or thematic filters.

Compact Name: IND 1Y

Real-Time
Industry Leaders 1 YearIndustry Losers 1 YearIndustry or Theme Leaders 1 YearIndustry or Theme Losers 1 Year

Industry Rating 1 Day​

The Industry Rating (1D) ranks each industry by its intraday relative performance during the current trading session. Ratings range from 1 to 99, where 99 indicates that the industry has outperformed 99% of all other themes and industries during the current trading day.

The score reflects the percentage of groups underperformed by the company’s industry on the current trading day and is recalculated continuously throughout the market sessions.

Inputs are based on companies within each industry and include:

  • Intraday price action during regular and external sessions
  • Gap types, movements, and follow-through
  • 1-day Relative Strength
  • Forming 20-day highs or lows
  • Strong individual movers
  • Other proprietary momentum indicators

The model emphasizes early session leadership, breakout behavior, and short-term acceleration, making this rating ideal for spotting rotational flows, sector momentum, or intraday group strength.

Compact Name: IND 1D

Real-Time
Industry Leaders TodayIndustry Losers TodayIndustry or Theme Leaders TodayIndustry or Theme Losers TodayIndustry Contrarian Leaders TodayIndustry Contrarian Losers Today

Theme Rating 1 Year​

The Theme Rating (1Y) ranks each theme by its 12-month relative performance. Ratings range from 1 to 99, where 99 indicates that the theme has outperformed 99% of all other themes and industries over 1 year.

Each theme’s score reflects the percentage of industries and themes it has outperformed over the past year, offering a long-term view of thematic strength and momentum.

Inputs are calculated based on the aggregate behavior of companies within each theme and include:

  • Total price performance over the last 12 months
  • Distance to 52-week highs
  • 1-year Relative Strength
  • Other proprietary momentum indicators

Greater weight is given to recent momentum and leadership persistence to highlight themes that are not only outperforming historically but continue to demonstrate strength.

This rating is valuable for identifying emerging investment themes, tracking sectoral macro narratives, and isolating themes that consistently outperform across market conditions.

Compact Name: THM 1Y

Real-Time
Theme Leaders 1 YearTheme Losers 1 YearIndustry or Theme Leaders 1 YearIndustry or Theme Losers 1 Year

Theme Rating 1 Day​

The Theme Rating (1D) measures each theme’s real-time performance during the current trading session. Scores range from 1 to 99, where 99 indicates that the theme has outperformed 99% of all other themes and industries during the current trading day.

This intraday score is recalculated throughout the current trading day and captures short-term momentum, breakout behavior, and active flows within each theme.

Inputs are based on intraday activity from companies in the theme and include:

  • Intraday price action during regular and external sessions
  • Gap types, movements, and follow-through
  • 1-day Relative Strength
  • Forming 20-day highs or lows
  • Strong individual movers
  • Other proprietary momentum indicators

More weight is applied to contrarian leaders or laggards—themes that perform strongly despite market weakness or underperform during broader strength.

This metric is particularly useful for spotting rotating leadership, short-term momentum clusters, or early thematic breakouts that may lead to broader trends.

Compact Name: THM 1D

Real-Time
Theme Leaders TodayTheme Losers TodayTheme Contrarian Leaders TodayTheme Contrarian Losers TodayIndustry or Theme Leaders TodayIndustry or Theme Losers Today