How to Read the QMA Screener: Every Column Explained

A stock screener is a filter for the entire market. The problem for most beginners isn't finding a screener — it's understanding what all the columns actually mean, so the numbers turn into decisions instead of noise.

This guide walks through every column in the QMA screener in plain language: what it measures, why it matters, and how to combine columns to hunt down quality stocks. Think of it as learning to read a dashboard before you drive.

The headline: QMA Composite + Grade

The first thing you see is the QMA Composite — a single score from 0 to 100 — and a letter Grade from A++ down to F. Think of the Composite as a stock's overall report card: it blends everything QMA tracks into one number so you can rank thousands of stocks at a glance.

• Green (roughly 70+): strong across the board.
• Amber (around 50–69): mixed — worth a closer look.
• Red (below 50): weak on most dimensions.

The Composite is your starting filter, not your final answer. Sort by it, then dig into the columns that explain why a stock scored the way it did.

Honesty note: if a column shows "—" instead of a number, it means QMA has no reliable data for that signal — so it shows nothing rather than faking a neutral score. A dash is information, not a bug.

The 5P bar: five dimensions of quality

Next to each stock is a row of five small colored bars — the 5P (Five Pillars). Each pillar answers one big question:

• Value — Is the price reasonable for what you get? Looks at fundamentals like valuation and earnings quality.
• Momentum — Is the stock moving in the right direction? Trend and relative strength versus the market.
• Smart Money — What are insiders and institutions doing? Insider buying, big-money accumulation and unusual options flow.
• Sentiment — What's the mood around the stock? News tone and analyst views.
• Catalyst — Is something coming that could move it? Earnings, events and seasonality.

Green bars are healthy, red are weak. The magic isn't any single pillar — it's balance. A stock strong on Value but red on Momentum and Smart Money is telling you a story; so is one glowing green across all five.

The detail columns (Pro): the sub-scores

Behind each pillar sit more precise sub-scores (0–100), for when you want to know exactly why a pillar is green or red:

• FVS — fundamental value (is it cheap or expensive for its quality?)
• EQS — earnings quality (are profits real and clean, or accounting noise?)
• TSS — technical setup (the chart structure)
• RS — relative strength (is it beating the market, or lagging?)
• IAS — insider activity (are company insiders buying or selling?)
• WHS — "whale" / dark-pool flow (big off-exchange accumulation)
• IFS — institutional 13F flow (what funds are adding or dropping)
• NSS — news sentiment (tone of recent coverage)
• ATS — analyst signal (the professional consensus)
• XS — catalyst score (upcoming earnings, events, seasonality)

You don't need all of them every time. They're there for when a stock interests you and you want to confirm the source of its score.

The fundamentals columns (Pro)

For the classic numbers investors check:

• P/E — how many years of earnings you're paying for the stock (high can mean growth or hype; low can mean value or trouble — always compare to peers).
• PEG — P/E adjusted for growth, so fast-growers don't look unfairly expensive.
• ROIC — return on invested capital: how efficiently the company turns money into profit. Consistently high ROIC is a hallmark of quality.
• Beta — how wildly the stock swings versus the market (above 1 = more volatile).
• Market cap — the company's size, from micro-cap to mega-cap.

The badges: quick signals

• CF (Confluence) — how many independent signals line up on the same stock. More aligned signals historically means a higher-conviction setup. A small "CF 5" is a nudge to look closer.
• 🚀 Strong / ⚠️ Weak — a fast read on the stock's overall signal strength right now.
• 💰 — the company pays a dividend.
• Insider conviction — flags clusters of insider buying worth noticing.

Price, 5-year return and sector

The basics round it out: the current Price, the 5-year return (long-term context — has this been a wealth-builder or a value-trap?), and the Sector (so you can keep a shortlist diversified instead of five names from the same industry).

How to actually use it: a 4-step workflow

1. Sort by Composite to bring the strongest-scoring stocks to the top.
2. Scan the 5P bar for balance — you want quality showing up across several pillars, not one spike.
3. Sanity-check the fundamentals — does the valuation make sense for the growth and quality?
4. Look for confluence — a high CF count plus insider conviction is where multiple independent signals agree.

That narrows thousands of stocks to a short list. From there, run each candidate through a pre-buy routine (see our 8-point checklist) and define your exit before you enter.

Doing this by hand — pulling fundamentals, charts, insider filings and news for thousands of companies — would take days. QMA recomputes all of it daily across thousands of stocks, so your time goes into deciding, not data-gathering. That's the whole point of a great screener: it does the digging so you can focus on judgement.

FAQ

What's the single most important column?

There isn't one. The Composite is the best starting filter, but the edge comes from balance across the 5P pillars plus confluence — several independent signals agreeing, not one number in isolation.

Why does a stock show "—" instead of a score?

Because QMA has no reliable data for that signal and refuses to fake a neutral number. A dash means "unknown," which is itself useful — you know not to lean on that dimension.

Can I trust the Composite on its own?

Treat it as a ranking tool, not a verdict. It tells you where to look first; the detail columns tell you why, and your own research and risk plan make the decision.

How often is the data updated?

QMA refreshes scores daily, with more frequent updates on the most-watched large caps during market hours.

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Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Past performance does not guarantee future results.*

Every column above is computed for you automatically across thousands of stocks and refreshed daily. Open the screener, sort by Composite, and the market's strongest-scoring names rise to the top — so you spend your time on the decision, not the spreadsheet.