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Piotroski Scan

Piotroski Scan is a Other Screens screen. It checks every NSE-listed stock against 1 condition computed from nightly data, after excluding heavily pledged promoters and very small market caps. This page explains the rule, each figure and its source. It lists no stocks and is not advice.

What it does and why

Joseph Piotroski, an accounting professor, showed that a simple 9-point checklist of financial health signals — looking at profitability, financial leverage and liquidity, and operating efficiency — could reliably separate improving businesses from deteriorating ones. Each signal answers one yes/no question about the financial statements. A score of 7 or higher (out of 9) means the company is improving on almost all fronts simultaneously: it is becoming more profitable, less leveraged, and more operationally efficient. This screener finds those companies. It is entirely backward-looking — it measures improvement, not prediction.

The rule, step by step

A stock must satisfy every condition below. Conditions are grouped under the pillar they test.

Profitability

Described in the philosophy; not a pass/fail condition in the current rule

Leverage and Liquidity

Described in the philosophy; not a pass/fail condition in the current rule

Operating Efficiency

Described in the philosophy; not a pass/fail condition in the current rule

General conditions

  • Piotroski F-Score ≥ 7

Hard excludes

  • Promoter pledge above 30% of the promoter's holding
  • Market cap below ₹500 crore
Passes the screen

Ranked by Piotroski F-Score, highest first.

The figures it uses

Piotroski F-Score

Used in a condition
Formula
Number of the nine Piotroski tests passed, 0 to 9
Input fields
pat, total assets, cfo, long-term debt, current ratio, paidUpEquityShares, gross profit, revenue
Source of record
FinEdge · /api/v1/financials/{symbol}?statement_code=pl&period=annualFinEdge · /api/v1/financials/{symbol}?statement_code=bs&period=annualFinEdge · /api/v1/financials/{symbol}?statement_code=cf&period=annualFinEdge · /api/v1/shareholdings/summary/{symbol}?period=quarterly
Refresh
Recomputed nightly (06:30 IST job); rows older than 3 days are excluded from screens

Promoter Pledge

Hard exclude input
Formula
Pledged shares as a share of the promoter's own holding: pledgedSharesPct ÷ promoter holding × 100; blank when the quarter is not listed
Input fields
pledgedSharesPct, promoter holding
Source of record
FinEdge · /api/v1/shareholdings/summary/{symbol}?period=quarterlyFinEdge · /api/v1/shareholdings/pattern/{symbol}?period=quarterly
Refresh
Recomputed nightly (06:30 IST job); rows older than 3 days are excluded from screens

Market Cap

Hard exclude input
Formula
Close × paid-up equity shares ÷ 10,000,000 (₹ crore)
Input fields
close, paidUpEquityShares
Source of record
Upstox · public historical candles, NSE_EQ|{ISIN} (no auth)FinEdge · /api/v1/daily-quotes/{symbol} (fallback)FinEdge · /api/v1/shareholdings/summary/{symbol}?period=quarterly
Corporate actions
Adjusted for corporate actions before use
Refresh
Recomputed nightly (06:30 IST job); rows older than 3 days are excluded from screens

What each figure means

Piotroski F-Score (out of 9)

The sum of 9 binary signals derived from financial statements. Each signal scores 1 (pass) or 0 (fail). Total ranges from 0 (all failing) to 9 (all passing).

This screener qualifies stocks scoring 7 or above. A score of 9 — all nine signals passing simultaneously — is rare and indicates a company improving on every measurable financial dimension at once.

High is better

Return on Assets (%)

Net profit divided by total assets. Measures how efficiently the company uses all its assets — not just equity capital — to generate profit.

F1 and F3 both use ROA. F1 checks it is positive (company is profitable). F3 checks it is rising year-on-year (profitability is improving). Both signals must pass for full credit on this pillar.

High is better

Operating Cash Flow / Net Profit

Operating cash flow divided by net profit. A ratio above 1.0 means the company is collecting more cash than it reports as profit — a sign of earnings quality.

F4 checks that operating cash flow exceeds net profit. When a company reports profit but collects less cash, it often means revenue is being recognised before it is collected, which is a red flag. A ratio above 1 means reported profits are backed by real cash.

High is better

Current Ratio

Current assets divided by current liabilities. Measures whether the company can cover its short-term obligations with its short-term assets. Above 1.0 means it can; below 1.0 means it cannot without additional financing.

F6 checks that the current ratio is rising year-on-year. An improving current ratio means the company's short-term liquidity is getting better, reducing the risk of a cash crunch.

High is better

Asset Turnover (Revenue / Total Assets)

Annual revenue divided by total assets. Measures how much revenue the company generates from every rupee of assets it holds. Higher means more efficient use of the asset base.

F9 checks that asset turnover is rising. Improving turnover means the company is sweating its assets harder — getting more revenue out of the same factories, equipment, and inventory.

High is better

Try the rule

Type hypothetical values to see which conditions they satisfy. These are not real stocks and nothing here is stored.

  • Piotroski F-Score ≥ 7—

Enter values to begin

How sensitive is it?

How many stocks pass if this threshold were set differently. Counts only; no stocks are named.

A worked example

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Evidence

What the harness measured

no_verified_figureNot yet tested

We have not measured this screen yet, so there is no record to explain.

Live monitoring

Not yet testable — 0 of 6 points needed to chart a rolling information coefficient.

  • 5-day IC -0.053 · signal date 2026-10-14 · n 4447

This is a historical, statistical measurement produced by FINOME TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD's research harness on past data. It is not a prediction, and past results do not indicate future results. The universe is today's Nifty 500 constituents, so the sample is affected by survivorship bias. It describes how a screen's selections behaved in the past and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation.

Run this screen

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Rule version 1.0.0

Questions

How is this screen calculated?
Each stock is tested against 1 condition using figures computed from exchange prices and company filings, adjusted for corporate actions. The rule is versioned; this page shows version 1.0.0.
How often does the screen update?
The figures are recomputed once each trading day after the nightly compute. A stock whose figures are more than three days old is left out rather than shown stale.
Is this investment advice?
No. This is educational material describing a screening method. It does not recommend any security and does not consider your circumstances.
Educational use only — GoQuant is a research tool. This page explains a screening method and is not a recommendation. Investment advice is provided by FINOME TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD (AltQube), SEBI-registered Investment Adviser, registration no. INA000018373, under a signed advisory agreement and after a risk profile. Past performance is not indicative of future results.