Fair value and valuation

Fair value is GNG Research's estimate of what a company is worth per share. The panel pairs that estimate with the discount or premium against today's price and the price levels at which the stock becomes a more attractive buy. This page explains what the panel shows, the kinds of evidence it draws on, and how to read each figure. The GNG Scoring and Valuation panel, where these figures live, requires the Pro plan. Free and Pro Lite accounts see an upgrade prompt in place of the numbers.

Before you begin

Sign in on a Pro account. The panel and its underlying data are returned only to Pro and above.
Open a company page by ticker first. For the steps, see Look up a company.

What it shows

These figures appear inside the GNG Scoring and Valuation panel.

Fair Value per share, next to the current price, so you can compare them at a glance.
A Rating badge that places the current price on GNG Research's valuation scale, the seven-tier rating described in Ratings overview.
A Discount or Premium reading that states how far the current price sits below or above Fair Value, with green for a discount and red for a premium.
Buy Zones: a ladder of named price levels (Good Buy, Strong Buy, Very Strong Buy, and Ultra Value Buy) plus a single Trim level above Fair Value.
For income stocks, a separate dividend-based value appears in the Dividends section as a cross-check, labeled distinctly from the headline Fair Value. See Dividends.

Inputs

The panel takes no input. The figures are precomputed per company and refreshed on a regular schedule. You read them, you do not configure them.

At a high level, the Fair Value estimate draws on several independent families of valuation evidence and blends the ones that apply to the company:

Earnings-based value: what the company's profits imply it is worth.
Sales-based value: what its revenue base implies.
Book-value-based value: what its balance sheet implies.
Cash-flow-based value: what its ability to generate cash implies.
Dividend-based value: for dividend payers, what the income stream implies.
Sector-appropriate methods: additional approaches that suit the company's industry.

GNG Research selects the methods that fit each company, sets aside any estimate the data makes unreliable, and combines the survivors into a single figure that leans conservative. The buy zones and the Trim level are derived from that Fair Value together with the company's safety profile, so sturdier companies require a smaller discount to look attractive and riskier ones require a larger one. The precise way these pieces are weighted and combined is proprietary and is not published.

Outputs and how to read them

Fair Value is a dollar figure per share. Compare it to the current price. A price below Fair Value means the stock looks cheap on GNG Research's models; a price above means it looks expensive.
The Discount or Premium reading is a percentage gap between price and Fair Value. A clear discount reads green, a clear premium reads red, and a price close to Fair Value reads as at fair value.
The Buy Zones run from the shallowest discount to the deepest. Good Buy is the first attractive level, and Ultra Value Buy is the deepest. The lower the zone the price reaches, the larger the margin of safety the model sees.
The Trim level sits well above Fair Value and marks where the stock looks stretched.
Every reading is descriptive. None of it is a price target, a guarantee, or a recommendation to act.

Data and timing

The figures are built from AlphaVantage fundamentals (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow), prices delivered through AlphaVantage from Nasdaq, and filing facts sourced through EDGAR. They are recomputed on a regular schedule after the close.

Use cases

Decide whether a stock is cheap or expensive against an independent estimate of worth.
Set a personal entry level by watching for the price to reach a Strong Buy or Ultra Value Buy zone.
Sanity-check a price you are considering against a value reference that does not move with daily sentiment.

Limitations and disclosures

Fair Value depends on the quality of reported fundamentals and on which methods apply to the company, so for businesses with sparse or unusual data the estimate is less robust. The buy zones move whenever Fair Value or the safety profile changes, so treat them as model reference levels, not fixed targets. This panel presents valuations and carries the disclosure below.

GNG Research provides equity research and educational tools, not investment advice. Nothing on the platform is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Do your own research and consider your circumstances before making any investment decision.