Great businesses at fair prices — here's why each makes the list.
…and 320 more buy candidates in the full briefing.
39 name(s) sliding toward Avoid:
Value $99,495 ▼ -0.5% since 2026-07-16 · ▲ +$91 (+0.1%) since yesterday · S&P -1.5% · Cash $1,016
| Stock | Held | Price | Today | Since buy | Grade |
| DUOL | 77 sh | $133.89 | ▲ +0.0% | +3.8% | 90 |
| HIG | 73 sh | $140.50 | ▲ +0.2% | +2.8% | 90 |
| INTU | 33 sh | $293.82 | ▲ +0.9% | -0.3% | 88 |
| LOPE | 69 sh | $139.46 | ▼ -0.7% | -2.6% | 90 |
| META | 15 sh | $645.85 | ▼ -0.0% | -2.8% | 89 |
| NBIX | 58 sh | $173.00 | ▲ +1.2% | +0.8% | 89 |
| NEM | 110 sh | $89.20 | ▼ -0.6% | -1.8% | 91 |
| PRI | 31 sh | $309.41 | ▼ -0.4% | -1.1% | 92 |
| PTC | 78 sh | $124.83 | ▲ +0.4% | -2.0% | 89 |
| RMD | 49 sh | $198.61 | ▼ -0.2% | -2.0% | 89 |
Fictional money · prices update daily · a live test of whether the picks actually work.
Does the grading actually work? Two honest halves — a backtest on past data, and the real live record as it ripens. It reports the truth even when that's “not enough data yet.”
Reconstructed 319 graded moments across 150 companies (a sample of 150 names), then measured what each actually returned over the next 12 months.
Do higher grades earn better returns?
| Grade | Names | 12-mo return | vs S&P |
| A (80-100) | 44 | +13.0% | -1.1% |
| B (65-79) | 162 | +12.1% | -3.7% |
| C (50-64) | 89 | +15.3% | -0.2% |
| D-F (<50) | 24 | +41.0% | +27.2% |
→ higher grades did WORSE here (gap 28.0 pts) ⚠️
3 snapshot(s) since 2026-07-06, none ripe yet — first 6-month check ~2027-01-06.
Backtest limits: ~5 years back, surviving companies only, restated statements — a strong first read, not gospel. The live record is the hindsight-free gold standard and strengthens every month. Refreshed 2026-07-19. Educational only — not financial advice.
Primerica scheduled its Q2 earnings webcast for August 6 (results release after market close August 5). No forward guidance was given, but the company noted it insures 5.5 million lives and manages 3.1 million investment accounts — it ranked #3 in North American term life issuance in 2025. The stock recently hit an all-time high at $312.33. Separately, institutional buyers (Fifth Third Bancorp, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund) added to their positions last week. A Form 144 insider-sale notice was also filed — worth watching but routine for a stock at highs. No red flags here; the fundamentals-driven grade of 92 looks well-supported heading into earnings.
Newmont reports Q2 earnings July 23 — two days away. Wall Street expects EPS of $2.18 (up 53% YoY) on revenue of $6.19 billion (up 16%). Estimates were trimmed ~3% over the past month, so the bar has come down slightly. On the operational side, the company resumed mining at its Cadia site in Australia after a seismic event caused a temporary halt — no injuries or damage reported. Two major growth projects (Ahafo North and Tanami Expansion 2) remain on track. The stock slid ~16% over three months alongside a broader gold-stock pullback driven by oil-price fears and renewed Fed-rate concerns, but multiple analysts still call NEM cheap on valuation. The grade (91) reflects excellent profitability and growth; the weaker pillar is stability (67) because gold-miner margins can swing with bullion prices. With earnings imminent, this is a name to watch closely this week.
Mixed signals this week. On the positive side, the stock got a price-target raise to $152 and institutional buyers (Dimensional Fund, SEB Asset Management) added shares. The company declared its regular quarterly dividend ($0.60/share) and appointed industry veteran Randy Larsen to its board. On the negative side, Piper Sandler downgraded HIG to Neutral, arguing that large diversified commercial insurers are losing their defensive advantage as insurance pricing softens across more lines. Q2 earnings expectations: EPS $3.13 (down 8% YoY) on revenue $5.19 billion (up 6%), with the business insurance combined ratio forecast to deteriorate (91.9% vs 87.0% last year). An SEC 8-K was filed July 15 (the page returned a 403 so I couldn't read it — likely related to the dividend or board appointment already covered). The grade remains strong at 90, anchored by a P/E of 10 and 14.5% FCF yield, but the pricing-cycle headwind flagged by Piper Sandler is a genuine medium-term risk to monitor.
A quiet week. The stock hit a 52-week low near $140 on July 15 amid a sector-wide selloff (down ~5% in a day), and an institutional seller (Van Berkom) trimmed its position. No company-specific bad news drove the decline — it appears to be a broader risk-off move that dragged education stocks down. The grade is high (90) because of rock-solid finances (virtually no debt, 30% ROE, near-perfect stability score), but the weakest pillar is growth (59) since revenue and EPS are growing in the mid-single digits. The selloff may be creating an opportunity if the fundamentals hold, but no catalyst is in sight near-term.
Several analyst actions this week. Morgan Stanley raised its price target on user-growth optimism, and multiple analysts hiked targets citing AI-driven potential. However, CEO comments flagged slower growth ahead: daily active user growth is expected to moderate to ~20% for 2026, and management warned that AI adoption costs (higher inference spending) will weigh on gross margins near-term. The company is running pricing and subscription experiments that could make quarterly results "uneven." Duolingo has beaten EPS estimates by an average of ~16% over the past two quarters and the next report is expected August 5. Separately, a Barron's article noted Anthropic's "Claude for Teachers" launch as a potential competitive factor for education-tech stocks. The grade (90) is strong on profitability (100) and growth (97) but notably weak on stability (46) due to choppy margins — exactly the risk the CEO's comments highlight.
Good validation news: PTC's Windchill was named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for PLM software, and its Arena product earned Visionary status. Gartner projects that by 2030, over 60% of manufacturers will rely on PLM as essential infrastructure (up from ~20% today) — a large addressable market ahead. PTC also launched Onshape Labs, embedding AI capabilities (text-to-rendering, text-to-CAD geometry, drawing validation) directly into its cloud CAD platform. An analyst piece highlighted PTC's 85% gross margin and 39% operating margin as standout metrics. No earnings imminent. The grade (89) is well-rounded with no weak pillars.
The notable action this week was RBC Capital downgrading RMD to Sector Perform (from Outperform), cutting the price target from $276 to $234. RBC cited headwinds in FY27: device sales will be impacted by the Astral ventilator replacement cycle, higher input costs, and component supply constraints. On the positive side, an analyst piece highlighted ResMed's strong international growth (~9% constant-currency over 2 years) and FCF margin expansion (+21 percentage points over 5 years). The stock recently acquired Noctrix, expanding into peripheral nerve stimulation. The grade (89) reflects strong fundamentals, but the RBC downgrade flags a near-term earnings-growth speed bump worth tracking.
A busy news week. The big story: reports emerged that Meta is considering pivoting from pure AI development toward selling computing capacity (cloud-for-AI). CNBC confirmed preliminary talks on a potential deal worth up to $10 billion annually in lease revenue. Investors liked this — it offers a concrete revenue path from Meta's massive capex spend. The stock rebounded to ~$646, pushing Zuckerberg's net worth to $222 billion (#5 globally). BofA raised its price target on AI revenue potential, and Hedgeye added META as a long idea. At 24x earnings with ~20% annual EPS growth expected, the valuation looks reasonable but not cheap. Free cash flow trails reported earnings by ~30% due to heavy capital spending — worth monitoring. The grade (89) benefits from excellent profitability and growth scores.
Analyst sentiment is strongly positive. Zacks has NBIX at its highest rating (Strong Buy), and 2026 EPS estimates have been revised upward from $9.15 to $9.44 over the past 60 days — a 48% expected earnings growth rate for the year. The stock is up 20.5% year-to-date and has beaten estimates in 3 of the last 4 quarters (average surprise 9%). Multiple outlets named NBIX among the best biotech growth picks for the second half. No company-specific negative news. The grade (89) is strong across all pillars.
Light news week. A 13G filing showed the firm disclosed a 4.03% stake in Scynexis (a small-cap antifungal company) — this is about Federated Hermes the asset manager making an investment, not a change to FHI's own business. Analysts have a consensus "Hold" rating. Monthly portfolio data was released for its Premier Municipal Income Fund. No material catalysts either way. The grade (88) is supported by the asset management business's steady fundamentals.
Alaska Air reports Q2 earnings today (July 21). Wall Street expects a loss of $0.97/share, a 155% decline from the year-ago quarter, driven primarily by fuel costs nearly doubling ($1.33B vs $700M last year). Revenue is expected at $4.09B (up 10.5%) with strong passenger demand, but fuel expense is crushing margins. The stock fell 4.4% in a single session recently while the broader market lost only 1%. Estimates have actually been revised upward over the past month (+76%), suggesting the worst may already be priced in. Still, a money-losing quarter is a money-losing quarter. Grade 40 appropriately flags real financial stress.
A quiet week for the timber REIT. One analysis piece argued the stock could be 23% undervalued, but the company faces fundamental headwinds: housing demand uncertainty and lumber-price softness. No earnings catalyst near-term. The grade (41) reflects weak profitability in the current environment.
The big story is the Blackstone acquisition saga. New Mexico's Public Regulation Commission ruled 2-1 that a $400 million stock sale to Blackstone violated state law (it lacked PRC approval), ordering the transaction unwound and fining the companies $300,000. Despite this setback, both sides extended the $11.5 billion merger deadline to May 2027 and say they remain committed. TXNM took out a $400M loan to repay the voided stock sale. An SEC 8-K was filed related to the amended merger agreement. This is a regulatory-risk story: the deal may still close, but the path is uncertain and the timeline keeps stretching. The grade (41) reflects the overhang.
Whirlpool reports Q2 results July 27 with the call July 28. Expectations are brutal: EPS of just $0.08 (down 94% YoY) on revenue of $3.61B (down 4.5%). Estimates have been revised further downward (-7%) over the past month. One Seeking Alpha analysis titled "As We Enter A Recession, Whirlpool Will Continue To Face Turbulent Waters" downgraded the stock. The company earned sustainability recognition (Dow Jones index, S&P Yearbook), which is nice but won't fix the earnings collapse. Grade 44 is appropriate — the business is under real pressure from weak consumer spending and rising input costs.
Two noteworthy items. RBC Capital sees fiscal Q3 North America same-store sales tracking in-line with consensus — not a disaster, driven by labor investments and extended hours. But RBC maintained only a "Sector Perform" rating ($110 target) and flagged El Nino-driven coffee-price increases as a margin risk. Meanwhile, China's Luckin Coffee opened its first New York location — a competitive threat to watch, though Luckin's U.S. presence is tiny for now. The stock recently hit a 52-week high at $109, which is interesting for a crash-watch name — the grade (45) is driven by weak profitability and growth scores rather than price action. Starbucks' best quarter in two years may signal a turnaround, but the numbers aren't strong enough yet to move the grade.
DLTR (Dollar Tree) dropped from Buy to Hold (grade 69.9) — it slipped just below the 70 buy bar.
Honest limits: SEC 8-K filings for HIG returned a 403 error and couldn't be read directly (the content was likely covered by the dividend/board announcements already reported). Google News redirect links for several articles couldn't be fetched (they serve a JavaScript shell, not article text). Investors.com was blocked. The Luckin Coffee / 247wallst article also returned a 403. Where an article couldn't be loaded, I relied on headline + context from articles that did load. This is a once-a-morning read of free sources — not a substitute for your own research.
MarketMind is a personal, educational stock-research tool. Every morning it screens roughly 900 large- and mid-cap U.S. companies, grades each one from 0–100 on five research-backed pillars — financial health, profitability, growth, valuation, and moat — and surfaces the businesses that look strong and reasonably priced.
The idea it rests on: over the long run, a stock's price follows the company's profits. So rather than chasing hype, MarketMind looks for great businesses at fair prices and lets time do the work.
It also runs a Paper Fund — a fictional $100,000 that automatically follows the tool's own Buy ratings — so you can watch, over time, whether the picks actually work. It's pretend money: nothing here is ever bought or sold for real.
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