1) Fundamental Foundations

• Fundamental analysis importance in market economies

• Myth of efficient markets and reality

• Four reasons why markets are not efficient

• Alpha load and forms of mispricing

• Recipe: skills, process, sound judgment

• Idea generation and 10% mindset

• Role of process and judgment in forming belief

• Voting machine vs weighing machine

• Goal: Identify mispricings, harvest alpha

• Pareto distribution and top performer challenges

2) LIFE ON THE BUY-side

• Buy-side primer: structure, roles, investment objectives

• Limited partners (LPs) and their investment goals

• Hedge funds: single-manager vs. multi-manager structures

• Long-only funds: business model and challenges

• Analyst role: idea generation to thesis development

• Investment process: idea assessment to monitoring

• Buy-side mindset

• Leveraging information edge to generate alpha

• Anatomy of a top-performing buy-side analyst

• Creating a rigorous, repeatable investment process

3) Thesis Development

• Thesis-driven investing: a structured approach

• Analyst's role: developing expertise and ideas

• Coverage models impact thesis development latency

• Nine-step thesis development process

• Model construction: key tool for analysis

• Structured due diligence: FEV framework

• Identifying key drivers and differentiated insights

• Constructing the thesis: key elements, delivery

• Presenting the thesis: succinct, focused, humble

• Idea maintenance: monitoring key drivers, catalysts

4) Why Stocks Move Up and Down

• Stocks move due to supply and demand

• Market price: capital-weighted consensus of value

• Drivers: fundamentals, expectations, valuation, non-fundamental factors

• Stock price differs from business value

• EPS growth, revisions, re-ratings

• Focus Five framework: key business value drivers

• Model linkage helps identify key drivers

• Exceptionalism, perception shifts, narratives

• Risk reduction and visibility impact valuations

• Inflections and themes

5) IDEA Generation

• Efficiency: avoiding deep dives prematurely

• Seeking mispriced stocks likely to have alpha

• Compounders, exceptionalism, and change/confusion

• Thematic investing: themes drive revenue and value

• Pattern recognition from experience guides idea generation

• FEV framework: fundamentals, expectations, valuation

• Cyclical vs secular trends often misunderstood

• Idea screening using multiple lenses and criteria

• Ingredients of compelling ideas: mispricing and catalysts

• Efficient idea vetting process with PM check-ins

6) Buyside Modeling

• The six reasons buy-side analysts build models

• A step-by-step raw build: TSLA walk-through

• Common modeling challenges

• Bells & whistles: incr margin, 2-year stack & more

• Understanding consensus & estimate revisions

• Seven hacks for identifying variance vs. street

• Mental frameworks for better forecasting

• The three statements for stock pickers

• What your PM is looking for in your model

• The model & stock selection: NVST case

7) Analyze a Business

• Read 10-K, earnings calls, sell-side research

• Build simple model, identify key drivers

• Assess business quality, viability, momentum

• Analyze unit economics and cash economics

• Understand market expectations priced in

• Develop bull, base, bear cases

• Focus research on 3 key drivers

• Evaluate management and capital allocation

• Compare to peers on key metrics

• Analyze catalysts and risk/reward setup

8) Analyze an Industry

• Learn industry through primers, experts, conferences

• Develop universe tracker and comp sheets

• Understand sector economics with industry P&L

• Maintain coverage through regular blocking & tackling

• Use model to identify inflections, catalysts

• Connect dots between competitors and industry

• Pursue both quick dives and deep dives

• Long compounders with durable growth algorithms

• Short melting ice cubes with structural headwinds

• Pair trades can provide persistent alpha

9) Management & CapitaL Allocation

• Why management matters (and when it doesn’t)

• A framework to evaluate management

• Doing a deep dive on a management team

• The obsession with corporate access

• A structured management meeting process

• The role of investor relations

• Navigating an investor conference

• Analyzing stock-based compensation

• Five options for deployment of cash

• Analyzing stock buy-backs

10) Assessing Expectations

• Stocks move based on expectations vs reality

• Management guidance, sell-side estimates influence expectations

• Price-implied expectations uncover market assumptions

• Buy-side whisper reflects true market expectations

• Assess positioning via ownership data, trading signals

• Contrarian positioning can yield alpha but risks

• Expectations gap: market view vs internal view

• Differentiated, variant view key to generating alpha

• Core debate, key drivers guide expectations work

• Critical questions: situation overview, differentiation, monetization path

11) Applied Valuation

• Stock valuation based on discounted cash flows

• Key approaches: DCF, multiples, normalized earnings

• Multiples are shorthand for a DCF

• P/E roll-forward approach

• Choosing an appropriate multiple

• Earnings power approach

• Develop risk/reward framework

• Disaggregate stock returns

• Create scenario trees with weighted outcomes

• Be aware of terminal value perception

12) SHORT SELLING

• Short selling basics and mechanics

• Challenges and risks of shorting stocks

• Shorting approaches: alpha, structural, event-driven, hedging

• Identifying short ideas: fundamentals, expectations, valuation

• Short alpha buckets and types of shorts

• Importance of timing and risk management

• Earnings season tactics for shorts

• De-grossing: reducing exposure in tough markets

• Quantitative short selection framework

• Applying short selling mindset to long-investing

13) EARNINGS SEASON

• Earnings season drives outsized stock volatility

• Expectations gap and catalyst framework explained

• Preparing for earnings: previews, positioning, catalysts

• Updating models and assessing results efficiently

• Evaluating surprise factor and algorithmic shifts

• Estimating upside/downside moves and risk/reward

• Tactics for earnings day and beyond

• Analyzing read-throughs and adapting expectations bar

• Identifying spring-loaded and peak-on-peak setups

• Reacting to prints and fading overreactions

14) PITCH LIKE A PRO

• Turn a promising idea into compelling thesis

• Construct thesis using firm's preferred format

• Key elements: summary, thesis points, risks, valuation

• Tell a story with strong supporting data

• Anticipate questions and prepare concise responses

• Deliver pitch succinctly balancing confidence and humility

• Follow up promptly on any open questions

• Avoid thesis creep using a trading plan

• Conduct pre-mortem and post-mortem using thesis document

• When evaluating pitches, prepare to poke holes

15) WRAPPING UP

• Rank stocks using reward/risk and qualitative scores

• Idea stack: long and short book rankings

• Three-year double: EPS growth and P/E expansion

• Risk management: VaR, quant models, event frameworks

• MIC: market view, internal view, convergence

• FEV: fundamentals, expectations, valuation for idea generation

• Achieving ETIK, focusing on key drivers (KDs)

• Communicate idea with structured pitch script

• Portfolio construction balancing risk/reward

• across ideas

• Analyst progression: junior to "full stack" partner

You'll get access to 6 months of live office hours sessions. Although these sessions are completely optional, they are a great resource for those who want to tap into the knowledge of our experienced instructor base.

Unable to make live sessions but still have questions? No worries! You can submit a question anytime in our mailbag and the instructors will answer if during the office hours session. We post the recordings to all the live sessions so you will be able to see what they said. 

For students who want additional support and feedback, the Analyst Academy includes feedback on a final stock pitch capstone project. This is where you can apply what you learned to a real-world case study and hear what the instructors have to say about your idea.

Analyst Academy students also get one free 30 minute coaching session with Analyst Trainer Andrew Carr. Andrew has coached hundreds of students over the years, including multiple winners of the Perishing Square stock pitch competition.