Why Finviz
Finviz is a free web screener that covers every US-listed stock. It is a quick way to turn a few ideas about growth and valuation into a short list you can research.
Step 1: pick a universe
Under Descriptive, set Index to S&P 500 or leave it on Any. Set Market Cap to "+Small (over $300M)" to skip the tiniest companies, and Average Volume to "Over 500K" so shares trade easily.
Step 2: add fundamental filters
Under Fundamental, a growth-at-a-reasonable-price starting point:
| Filter | Setting | Why |
|---|---|---|
| EPS growth next year | Over 10% | Analysts expect growth (EPS growth (TTM and forward)) |
| Sales growth qtr over qtr | Over 10% | Revenue is really growing (Revenue growth (TTM and forward)) |
| PEG | Under 2 | Price is reasonable for the growth (PEG ratio) |
| Debt/Equity | Under 1 | Not overloaded with debt (Debt-to-equity ratio) |
| Gross margin | Positive | The product makes money (Gross margin) |
Loosen any filter that leaves fewer than 20 names; tighten if you have more than 100.
Step 3: set useful columns
Open the Custom view and add: Ticker, Company, Sector, Market Cap, Forward P/E, PEG, EPS next Y, Sales Q/Q, Gross Margin, Debt/Eq, Price. Sort by PEG or by EPS next Y.
Step 4: save and follow up
Save the screen (a free account allows this) and move the best names to a watchlist. See the Building a research watchlist. Then do the real work: How to research a company.
Limits to know
- Free data is delayed and forward estimates come from analysts, who are often wrong.
- A screen cannot see moats, management or product quality. See Economic moats.
See also
- Stock screening and scoring How to screen thousands of stocks down to a short list, and how a percentile-based scoring model ranks companies on growth, valuation and balance sheet.
- Building a research watchlist How to build and maintain a research watchlist on Seeking Alpha or any platform, with the columns to track and a quarterly routine to keep it useful.
- Fundamentals checklist A one-page checklist for researching a stock: growth, profitability, balance sheet, valuation, moat and risks, with the metric to check for each.
Pages that link here: Debt-to-equity ratio
Last updated September 30, 2026. Education only, not investment advice.