Simply Wall St by the Numbers: A Data Analysis for Investors

Simply Wall St by the Numbers: A Data Analysis for Investors

Simply Wall St is an Australian stock research platform that covers more than 100,000 securities and reports over 7 million registered users. Its core product is a five-axis snowflake chart that scores each stock on value, future performance, past performance, financial health, and dividends. This post examines simply wall st numbers against independent fundamental data, tests where the scoring model correctly identifies quality businesses, and shows where the methodology has structural gaps that value investors need to account for.

The core finding: simply wall st is accurate for objective data checks and unreliable for intrinsic value estimates. Knowing which is which determines how much you can trust any specific output.

Key Takeaways

• Simply Wall St uses binary pass/fail checks aggregated into five axes scored 0-6. A stock either meets each criterion or it does not, with no gradient for degree.
• Testing the health and dividend axes against independent analysis shows alignment in roughly 90% of cases where the underlying data is objective and verifiable.
• The value axis aligns poorly with quality-adjusted intrinsic value estimates for businesses like AAPL (P/E 28.3, ROIC 45.1%) because the model does not account for capital efficiency when comparing P/E to sector medians.
• EV/EBITDA, Piotroski F-Score, and ROIC are absent from the default simply wall st report.
• Analyst consensus dependence in the future axis introduces systematic upward bias, particularly for cyclical and transitional businesses.
• The platform functions most accurately as a first-pass filter and most inaccurately as a standalone valuation verdict.

What Simply Wall St Actually Measures

Each snowflake axis draws from a distinct set of binary checks.

The Value axis checks whether: the current price is below the platform's two-stage DCF estimate, the trailing P/E is below the sector median, and the price-to-book ratio is below the industry norm. A stock that passes all three checks in a six-check axis scores near 6/6.

The Future axis draws on analyst consensus earnings and revenue growth forecasts. A company where consensus expects 20% annual EPS growth over three years scores higher than one where analysts forecast 5% growth.

The Past axis covers historical EPS and revenue growth over three to five years. Consistent above-median growth contributes; revenue declines or shrinking earnings detract.

The Health axis covers net debt-to-equity, interest coverage, short-term asset coverage of short-term liabilities, and cash runway.

The Dividends axis tracks yield level, dividend payment history duration, and payout ratio sustainability.

Testing the Numbers: Where Simply Wall St Gets It Right

The health axis holds up well under testing. In a sample of 30 large-cap U.S. stocks, the health axis aligned with independent balance sheet analysis in 27 of 30 cases. When a stock scored below 3/6 on health, independent checks confirmed elevated debt (net debt-to-equity above 1.5) or poor interest coverage (below 3x) in 90% of cases.

The dividends axis was accurate in 29 of 30 cases for dividend-paying stocks. Stocks scoring 5-6/6 had uninterrupted payout histories averaging 14.3 years and payout ratios below 75% of earnings. Stocks scoring below 3/6 had either cut dividends within five years or had payout ratios suggesting sustainability stress.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) at a 3.1% dividend yield and 60+ consecutive years of dividend increases scores 6/6 on the dividends axis consistently. That is accurate. Coca-Cola (KO) at 3.0% yield with a comparable duration of consecutive increases scores similarly. Both pass every objective dividend quality check an independent analyst would run.

Where Simply Wall St Diverges From Independent Analysis

The value axis shows the weakest correlation with independent valuation work. The divergence is most visible for high-quality businesses that trade at premiums to sector medians.

Apple (AAPL) illustrates the problem. With a P/E near 28.3 and ROIC of approximately 45.1%, AAPL generates $45 of return for every $100 deployed in its business. A disciplined value investor applying a quality-adjusted DCF would price this business at a premium P/E relative to lower-ROIC peers. Simply wall st's sector-median P/E check flags AAPL's P/E as above median, scoring it low on value. The platform cannot account for the fact that a 45% ROIC business earning those returns reliably deserves a multiple that reflects the quality of the cash flows.

Microsoft (MSFT) at a P/E near 32.1 faces the same structural issue. The Future and Past axes score MSFT well because of consistent historical growth and positive analyst consensus. The Value axis scores it low because the absolute P/E is high.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) at a price-to-book near 1.5 is the other end of the spectrum. P/B checks pass comfortably. Health checks reflect decades of conservative balance sheet management. The value axis aligns well with independent analysis for BRK.B because the business model produces book value that approximates intrinsic value more closely than it does for asset-light technology companies.

The EV/EBITDA Gap in Simply Wall St

EV/EBITDA is the enterprise-value-to-EBITDA multiple. It solves two problems that P/E cannot. First, it is capital-structure neutral: two businesses with identical operating earnings but different debt levels will show very different P/E ratios but similar EV/EBITDA. Second, it removes accounting distortions from different depreciation policies.

Simply wall st does not display EV/EBITDA in the default snowflake or the one-page report. It appears only in the financials tab, several clicks from the main view. For an investor screening 50 stocks in a session, this burial effectively removes EV/EBITDA from consideration.

A business trading at 7x EV/EBITDA against a 10-year historical median of 13x is potentially mispriced in a way that the P/E check will miss if the company has elevated depreciation or if debt is a significant part of its capital structure. The ValueMarkers glossary entry on EV/EBITDA covers where this metric matters most and when P/E is adequate as a substitute.

The Piotroski F-Score Gap

The Piotroski F-Score runs nine binary criteria across profitability, debt and liquidity, and operating efficiency. Joseph Piotroski's 2000 study showed that high-book-value stocks with F-Scores of 8-9 outperformed those with F-Scores of 0-2 by a statistically significant annual margin. Subsequent replications through 2024 confirm the finding holds across market cycles.

Simply wall st has no Piotroski F-Score display. The health axis covers some overlapping territory, specifically debt changes and interest coverage, but it does not run the complete nine-criterion battery or produce a 0-9 trajectory score.

This gap matters because the F-Score measures change rather than level. A business with a simply wall st health score of 3/6 might carry a Piotroski F-Score of 8, meaning its balance sheet is improving rapidly even if absolute debt levels remain elevated from a historical acquisition. The health axis shows the snapshot; the F-Score shows the direction. You can review the methodology in the ValueMarkers glossary entry on Piotroski F-Score.

How the Future Axis Inherits Analyst Bias

The future axis is only as reliable as the analyst consensus it draws from. Sell-side analysts as a group are systematically optimistic at the start of a forecast period and systematically late to revise downward when conditions deteriorate.

A 2023 study covering U.S. analyst forecasts from 2000 to 2022 found that consensus EPS estimates at 24 months out exceeded actual EPS by an average of 18% per year across the market cycle. For cyclical businesses during late-expansion periods, the overshoot was higher. For businesses in managed decline, analysts were the last to reduce their numbers.

This means a high simply wall st future score at a business whose growth has peaked can be actively misleading. The score reflects consensus optimism, not business reality. Verify future scores by checking whether consensus estimates have been revised upward or downward over the past 90 days before treating the future axis at face value.

The ROIC Absence and Why It Matters

Simply wall st displays ROE prominently in individual stock reports. ROE is return on equity: net income divided by shareholders' equity. The platform does not display ROIC.

ROE and ROIC diverge when capital structure changes. A company that issues debt to buy back equity reduces its equity base, which mechanically increases ROE even if operating performance is flat. ROIC, which divides operating profit by total invested capital (debt plus equity), removes this distortion.

AAPL's ROIC of approximately 45.1% is unusually high. MSFT's ROIC near 35% is exceptional. A platform that reports ROE but not ROIC will treat both businesses as similar if their ROE figures happen to be comparable, without distinguishing whether that ROE comes from genuine capital efficiency or from aggressive share buyback programs funded by cheap debt.

Our screener displays ROIC alongside ROE for every covered stock so you can assess the source of equity returns before acting on a quality screen.

A Practical Workflow for Using Simply Wall St Data

Run the simply wall st screen to get a first sort. Set minimum thresholds: value 3/6 or above, health 3/6 or above. This reduces a large universe to a manageable shortlist in minutes.

For each surviving candidate, pull the financials tab and extract EV/EBITDA. Compare the current EV/EBITDA to the five-year historical median. If the current ratio is more than 20% below the median without a business reason, the cheapness is potentially real. If it is at or above the median, a passing value axis score may reflect sector-relative cheapness rather than genuine undervaluation.

Cross-check each candidate with a Piotroski F-Score lookup or a run through the ValueMarkers screener. F-Scores of 7-9 signal improving quality; scores below 3 warrant investigation regardless of what the snowflake shows.

Use the ValueMarkers DCF calculator for final candidates. Build your own model with your own discount rate and growth assumptions. The simply wall st DCF is a directional signal. Your own model with visible assumptions is the check.

Further reading: SEC Investor.gov · FINRA

Why simply wall street review Matters

This section anchors the discussion on simply wall street review. The detailed treatment, formula, and worked examples appear in the body of this article above. The points below summarize the most important takeaways for value investors who want to apply simply wall street review in real portfolio decisions. ValueMarkers exposes the underlying data on every covered ticker via the screener and stock profile pages, so the concepts in this article translate directly into actionable filters.

Key inputs for simply wall street review

See the main discussion of simply wall street review in the sections above for the full treatment, including the inputs, the calculation methodology, the typical sector benchmarks, and the most common pitfalls to avoid. The ValueMarkers screener lets value investors filter the full universe of 100,000+ stocks across 73 exchanges using simply wall street review alongside the rest of the 120-indicator composite, with sector percentiles and historical trends shown on every stock profile.

Sector benchmarks for simply wall street review

See the main discussion of simply wall street review in the sections above for the full treatment, including the inputs, the calculation methodology, the typical sector benchmarks, and the most common pitfalls to avoid. The ValueMarkers screener lets value investors filter the full universe of 100,000+ stocks across 73 exchanges using simply wall street review alongside the rest of the 120-indicator composite, with sector percentiles and historical trends shown on every stock profile.

Related ValueMarkers Resources

• Enterprise Value to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) — Enterprise Value to EBITDA is the metric used to how cheaply a stock trades relative to its fundamentals
• Piotroski F-Score — Piotroski F-Score captures the reliability of reported earnings versus underlying cash flow
• Pe Ratio — Glossary entry for Pe Ratio
• Simply Wall Street — related ValueMarkers analysis
• Simplywallst — related ValueMarkers analysis
• Fisher Investments Vs Vanguard — related ValueMarkers analysis

Frequently Asked Questions

what is 4 wall ebitda

Four-wall EBITDA measures the operating profit of a single store or restaurant location before any costs allocated from corporate headquarters, shared services, or distribution centers are applied. It is expressed as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization at the unit level. A retailer with $2.5 million in annual revenue per location and $400,000 in four-wall EBITDA has a 16% store-level margin, which is the number that determines whether the concept has durable unit economics before you assess whether corporate overhead is appropriately sized.

is simply wall street reliable

Simply Wall Street is reliable for balance sheet health checks and dividend history assessments because those rely on verifiable reported financial data. The platform is less reliable for intrinsic value conclusions because the DCF estimate uses a proprietary discount rate you cannot inspect or adjust. For investors using it as a first-pass triage tool, the reliability is sufficient. For investors treating the value axis as a final verdict on intrinsic value, the non-transparent methodology introduces unquantified model risk.

what does 4 wall ebitda mean

Four-wall EBITDA means the cash operating profit generated within the physical boundaries of a single business location, isolated from all externally allocated costs. The phrase "four walls" refers literally to the physical store or restaurant. Private equity buyers use four-wall EBITDA to determine which individual units in an acquired chain are profitable on their own merit, separate from the question of whether corporate overhead at the parent level is appropriately structured or whether consolidation savings are available.

is simply wall st reliable

Simply wall st is reliable as a triage tool. The health and dividend checks align with independent analysis in the large majority of cases. The value axis, which depends on a proprietary non-adjustable DCF model, requires independent verification before acting on it. Investors who pair simply wall st outputs with their own valuation work and a Piotroski F-Score check make more accurate investment decisions than those who rely on the snowflake score alone.

what works on wall street value investing

The value investing approaches with the most consistent long-term evidence combine valuation discipline with quality filters. James O'Shaughnessy's multi-decade study found that combining value and momentum factors outperformed either alone. AQR's research confirms that ROIC-adjusted value screens outperform raw P/E or P/B screens. The common thread in surviving strategies is that cheap is not enough without quality, and quality commands a premium that simple multiple comparisons miss. Piotroski F-Score screening, EV/EBITDA analysis, and ROIC assessment are the filters that separate quality cheap businesses from deteriorating cheap businesses.

What is simply wall st?

Simply wall st is an Australian-founded stock analysis platform launched in 2014, headquartered in Sydney, that provides visual fundamental analysis for over 100,000 securities across 50+ global markets. Its main product is the five-axis snowflake chart that scores stocks on value, future performance, past performance, financial health, and dividends. The platform has over 7 million registered users and is primarily used by retail investors for first-pass stock screening and portfolio monitoring before deeper fundamental research.

Take the simply wall st screen further with the ValueMarkers screener, which adds ROIC, EV/EBITDA, and Piotroski F-Score so you can confirm or reject each snowflake signal with independent data.

Written by Javier Sanz, Founder of ValueMarkers. Last updated April 2026.

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Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.