Category: Qualitative Analysis

Qualitative analysis can sound almost like “listening to your gut,” and indeed many qualitative analysts would argue that gut feelings have their place in the process. That does not mean, however, that it is not a rigorous approach. Indeed, it can consume much more time and energy than quantitative analysis.

People are central to qualitative analysis. An investor might start by getting to know a company’s management, including their educational and professional backgrounds. One of the most important factors is their experience in the industry. More abstractly, do they have a record of hard work and prudent decision-making, or are they better at knowing—or being related to—the right people? Their reputations are also key: do their colleagues and peers respect them? Their relationships with business partners are also worth exploring since these can have a direct impact on operations.

The distinction between qualitative and quantitative approaches is similar to the difference between human and artificial intelligence. Quantitative analysis uses exact inputs such as profit margins, debt ratios, earnings multiples, and the like. These can be plugged into a computerized model to yield an exact result, such as the fair value of a stock or a forecast for earnings growth. Of course, for the time being, a human has to write the program that crunches these numbers, and that involves a fair degree of subjective judgment. Once they are programmed, though, computers can perform quantitative analysis in fractions of a second, while it might take even the most gifted and highly-trained humans minutes or hours.

Qualitative analysis, on the other hand, deals with intangible, inexact concerns that belong to the social and experiential realm rather than the mathematical one. This approach depends on the kind of intelligence that machines (currently) lack, since things like positive associations with a brand, management trustworthiness, customer satisfaction, competitive advantage, and cultural shifts are difficult, arguably impossible, to capture with numerical inputs. 

Qualitative analysis uses subjective judgment to analyze a company’s value or prospects based on non-quantifiable information, such as management expertise, industry cycles, strength of research and development, and labor relations.

Qualitative analysis contrasts with quantitative analysis, which focuses on numbers found in reports such as balance sheets. The two techniques, however, will often be used together to examine a company’s operations and evaluate its potential as an investment opportunity.