In today's market, how can you tell if a "cheap" stock is a real bargain or a value trap? A single number can make all the difference.
The Obermatt 360° View is designed to be your first look. It combines a company’s fundamentals and real-world market sentiment into a single rank from 1 to 100. It’s the quickest pass at due diligence. A low score is a red flag, signaling you to move on. A high score is a good sign. For example, you may look up BASF, the German chemical giant, and find a low 360° View of 25. Regardless of headlines about “value” or “turnaround prospects,” the score signals the company is not holding up well compared to its peers. On the other hand, Geberit, a Swiss market leader, has a stellar 92, which is an invitation to explore what’s going right, and whether the data backs up the positive research.
To understand what makes the 360° View so effective, it can help to know how it’s calculated. Obermatt starts by averaging four core ranks: Value, Growth, Safety, and Sentiment. This method ensures no single dimension can dominate the picture. Even a company flourishing in one area must show all-around strength to reach the top. The Sentiment Rank, in particular, gives the 360° View its uniquely comprehensive edge. While Value, Growth, and Safety capture the financials in depth, Sentiment brings in the market’s pulse: it tracks analyst opinions, institutional moves, and the actions of professional investors. This fusion of hard numbers and market behavior means the 360° View doesn’t just measure what’s on the balance sheet. It also reflects how the broader investment community perceives the company, making the overall rank much more complete.
Once these four pillars are averaged, the result is compared with all other companies in a given sector or industry. Your stock’s score is then converted into a percentile from 1 to 100: the best performer gets a 100, the weakest a 1, and all others fall in between, making it easy to see exactly where a company stands among its peers.
How I Use the 360° View:
My personal process reflects these stages. First, I use the 360° View for idea generation: a low score is a quick “no”, a high score moves a stock to my watchlist. Then, I dive deep into a stock’s details, paying special attention to the ingredient ranks. I look for strength in all pillars, and especially prioritize the Safety Rank to protect capital. The 360° View gets my attention, but the detailed breakdown is where real stock decisions are made.
For a better understanding of the metrics feeding into the 360° View, we break down each of the ranks into another layer of granularity.
| Obermatt Rank | Detailed Ranks |
|---|---|
| Value Rank: Evaluates how attractively a company is priced using valuation metrics like earnings, sales, book value, and dividends relative to competitors. | Price / Earnings Ratio; Market-to-Book Ratio; Prices / Sales Ratio; Dividend Yield |
| Growth Rank: Tracks how fast a company is expanding across key metrics like revenue, profits, and assets compared to its peers. | Revenue Growth; Profit Growth; Capital Growth; Stock Growth |
| Safety Rank: Measures a company’s financial strength based on debt levels, liquidity, and capital structure. Higher ranks signal lower financial risk. | Leverage; Liquidity; Refinancing |
| Combined Rank: Provides a balanced score that merges Value, Growth, and Safety Ranks for a well-rounded view of a company's financial performance. | Value Rank; Growth Rank; Safety Rank |
| Sentiment Rank: Reflects market perception by analyzing investor behavior and recent stock performance relative to peers. | Analyst Opinions; Change in Opinions; Pro Holdings; Market Pulse |
| 360° View: Offers a holistic rating that combines all key Obermatt Ranks: Value, Growth, Safety, and Sentiment for a comprehensive company assessment. | Value Rank; Growth Rank; Safety Rank; Sentiment Rank |
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