The Briefs Score shows growth, income, and wealth preservation investors how well a stock fits their goal. It gives every stock a separate letter grade, A through F, for each of those three goals, so you can see in seconds whether a stock fits the way you invest.
Each grade looks at something different:
- Growth: how likely the stock is to beat the S&P 500.
- Income: how much it pays you, and how safe that payout is.
- Wealth preservation: how well it holds up when the market drops.
Pull up Nvidia and you'll see an A- in growth and a D- in income.
*Note - scores are updated and are subject to change.
A growth investor sees a company that returned 920% over five years. An income investor sees a dividend yield of 0.23%.
That's the problem it solves. "Is this a good stock?" has no answer until you say good for who, and one rating can't answer it for everyone.
This guide covers four things:
- The three kinds of investors, and what each one is looking for.
- Where the Briefs Score is on Briefs Terminal, and how to read it.
- How one company can be an A- and a D- at the same time.
- How to check any stock against your own goal, step by step.
If you'd rather see the grade first, you can join Briefs Investor here. The Briefs Score is one of the two tools that comes with it.
Why "Is This a Good Stock?" Is the Wrong Question
A company that sends you a big, steady dividend every quarter is doing its job for an income investor. The same company looks slow to a growth investor who wants the share price to double.
Most new investors skip the "good for who" step and jump straight to "buy or don't buy." That means they grade every stock on a test they never chose.
Your goal and your risk tolerance set the test. Pick your test before you look at the stock.
The Three Kinds of Investors
Most things on Briefs are separated into growth, income, and wealth preservation. The monthly reports come in those three types, and so does the Briefs Score.
| Investor type | What you want | How you get paid | What "good" means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Growth | Companies that appreciate faster than the S&P 500 | Selling shares later for more than you paid | The company is growing quickly and can keep doing it |
| Income | To get paid in cash | Dividends, the cash a company sends its owners, usually every three months | The payout is safe, growing, and well covered |
| Wealth preservation | Solid fundamentals that hold up in a downturn | Steady value when the market drops | The stock is unlikely to move much in a larger market downturn |
None of these is the "right" type, and plenty of investors are a mix of two. You just need to know which test you're running before a grade means anything.
Our guide to wealth preservation goes deeper on the third type.
Where to Find the Briefs Score, and How to Read It
Search any stock on Briefs Terminal and scroll down the company's page to the Briefs Score. You'll see three letter grades side by side: income, wealth preservation, and growth.
Under each grade are seven sub scores that show what earned it. A stock's income grade rises or falls with its yield, how well its cash covers the dividend, how long it has been paying, and how fast the dividend is growing.
The wealth preservation grade leans on things like the drawdown shield, which tracks how well the stock has held up when the market drops. If a sub score's name doesn't make sense, hover the small icon next to it for a plain-English explanation.
One Company, Two Very Different Grades
When we pulled up Nvidia on Briefs Terminal, it had an A- in growth and a D- in income.
The growth score. Growth investors are looking for companies that appreciate faster than the S&P 500, and Nvidia's five-year chart showed a 920% return. Growth investors also value things like the moat and how a company is moving with a macroeconomic shift, and Nvidia is at the center of the AI shift.
The income score. An income investor wants to get paid in cash. Nvidia's dividend yield was 0.23%, which means it doesn't pay you very much at all.
The wealth preservation score. Wealth preservation investors want solid fundamentals and a stock that won't move much in a downturn. Nvidia's one-month chart shows highs and lows every month, and that works against it on this test.
Same company, same financial statements, three different grades. None of them is wrong.
Grades change as new data comes in, so check the live score before you use any of these.
The Mistake Most Investors Make
The most common mistake is buying a stock for the wrong test.
- Buying a growth stock for income. Somebody near retirement hears a hot stock is "a great company," buys it, and waits for dividend checks that never come.
- Buying an income stock for growth. A 25-year-old buys a high-yield shipping company because the payout looks great, then wonders why the stock never took off.
- Buying a wealth preservation stock and expecting excitement. A steady household brand does its job by being boring.
In every case the investor graded the stock on the wrong test. That's the trap the three scores are built to catch.
How to Use the Briefs Score in 5 Steps
- Pick your archetype first. Growth, income, or wealth preservation. Write it down.
- Search the stock on Briefs Terminal. Scroll down the company's page until you reach the Briefs Score.
- Read your grade, and only your grade. An A- in growth tells an income investor almost nothing.
- Read the seven sub scores. Hover the small icon next to any sub score to see what it measures.
- Compare and save. Check a couple of the companies in the competitive analysis on the same test, then add the ones you want to follow to a watchlist.
The whole thing takes about two minutes.
Pros and Cons of Grading Stocks This Way
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Three scores per stock, so the grade matches your goal | You still have to decide which investor type you are |
| Built from 30 years of market data, not one person's opinion | A grade is a starting point, not a decision |
| Seven sub scores show the why, not just the letter | Grades change as new data comes in |
| An icon next to each sub score explains it | Past results do not promise future ones |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a stock get an A in growth and a D in income? Yes. Nvidia had an A- in growth and a D- in income at the same time.
Does a low grade mean I should sell? No. A low grade means the stock scored poorly on that one test. It says nothing about what to do with your own money.
Do I have to be an expert to read the score? No. The letter grade is the headline, and the icon next to each sub score explains what it means.
The Takeaway
Stop asking "Is this a good stock?" and start asking "Is this a good stock for the way I invest?"
Pick your archetype, read the grade for that archetype, and read the seven sub scores under it. The Briefs Score puts all three grades on one stock page, so you never have to guess which one applies to you.
Get the Briefs Score With Briefs Investor
For a long time, this kind of research took a full team of analysts. That's how we started.
But thanks to the growth of technology, we've been able to transform our data and research into a simple-to-use stock research platform. It's called Briefs Investor.
With Briefs Investor you study thousands of stocks with the click of a button because you get access to two powerful tools:
- Briefs Score
- Briefs Connector, aka, Supercharge Your AI
Most scoring tools are one-size fits all, and it's impossible to know what that means for YOUR goals.
Briefs Score is different: we grade based on specific investing goals. Whether you are a growth, income, or wealth preservation investor, we rate the stocks differently.
Many people ask ChatGPT or Claude about their investments. The problem is that the AI tools are running based on what's popular on the internet.
Not anymore. You can supercharge your favorite AI like ChatGPT or Claude with our Briefs Score and stock data to get much better answers.
Want to learn more about Briefs Investor? You can see all it has to offer here.
The tools you get with Briefs Investor give you an edge to be a smarter and more confident investor.
