CANSLIM Screener

CANSLIM Screener

The CANSLIM Screener automates William J. O'Neil's 7-step fundamental and technical framework across stock universes, quickly identifying growth candidates that meet specific earnings and momentum criteria.

What is a CANSLIM Screener?

Evaluating stocks against the CANSLIM framework manually requires calculating 3-year compound annual growth rates, inspecting quarterly earnings reports, tracking institutional sponsorship, analyzing volume trends, and measuring relative strength across hundreds of tickers.

The CANSLIM Screener skill automates this quantitative workflow. It pulls financial and market data across a stock universe (such as liquid S&P 500 components), evaluates each ticker against the seven O'Neil framework criteria simultaneously, and presents a structured, ranked output.

Rather than conducting manual step-by-step checks across multiple financial sites, investors can use the screener to filter candidates efficiently with agent support.

How Pierce AI Executes It

When you ask Pierce to run a CANSLIM screen, it executes a multi-step quantitative evaluation:

1. Universe Selection: Pierce targets a defined stock universe—typically liquid S&P 500 or sector leaders—to ensure candidates have adequate market capitalization and liquidity.

2. Data Aggregation: For each stock in the universe, Pierce queries Financial Datasets API endpoints for quarterly earnings, annual EPS, relative price history, and institutional float data.

3. The 7-Factor Scoring: Every stock is graded against standard CAN SLIM criteria:

   • Current Quarter EPS Growth (Target: >25%)
   • Annual earnings CAGR (Target: >25%)
   • Proximity to 52-week Highs
   • Supply/Demand Volume characteristics
   • Leader/Laggard Relative Strength
   • Institutional Buying trends
   • Broader Market Direction

4. Weighted Composite Grading: Pierce calculates a 0–7 CANSLIM Score (pass count) and a 0–100 Composite Score for each stock:

   • C (Current Quarterly Earnings): 1.0 point if earnings_growth >= 20%, 0.5 points if 0% to 20%, else 0.0 (Weight: 15%).
   • A (Annual Earnings Growth): 1.0 point if return_on_equity >= 15%, 0.5 points if 5% to 15%, else 0.0 (Weight: 20%).
   • N (New Products/Highs): 1.0 point if current price is within 15% of its 52-week high, else 0.0 (Weight: 15%).
   • S (Supply and Demand): 1.0 point if peg_ratio < 2.5 or shares_outstanding < 100M, else 0.5 (Weight: 15%).
   • L (Leader or Laggard): 1.0 point if price > sma_50, 0.5 points if price > sma_200, else 0.0 (Weight: 20%).
   • I (Institutional Sponsorship): 1.0 point if average_sentiment_score > 0.1 or sentiment_label is Bullish, else 0.5 (Weight: 10%).
   • M (Market Direction): 1.0 point if S&P 500 / Nasdaq is in a confirmed uptrend (above its 200-day moving average), else 0.0 (Weight: 5%).

   Missing Data: If a metric is missing, a neutral default of 0.7 points is assigned for that factor.

   Formula:

   • CANSLIM Score: Total number of passed factors (e.g. 5/7).
   • Composite Score: (C * 15) + (A * 20) + (N * 15) + (S * 15) + (L * 20) + (I * 10) + (M * 5) (rounded to nearest integer).

5. Filtration & Delivery: Pierce filters out non-qualifying tickers and presents the top candidates matching the CANSLIM criteria, ranked in descending order of their Composite Score.

Key Metrics & Deliverables

By engaging the CANSLIM Screener, you receive a clear analytical overview:

• The CANSLIM Leaderboard: A quantitative ranking of evaluated stocks based on framework criteria.
• Factor Breakdown: A tabular breakdown showing filtered tickers alongside key earnings growth rates, operating margins, and ROE metrics.
• Data Note & Vintage: Confirmation of the underlying reporting periods (latest TTM/annual data).
• Analyst Commentary: Summary commentary highlighting key factor alignments and metric thresholds.
• Pulse Hint: Option to track candidate lists over time via recurring Pulse updates.

Example Prompts & Use Cases

You can instruct Pierce to run screening operations using prompts like:

• "Run a CANSLIM screen on the top 100 stocks in the S&P 500."
• "Which stocks score highest on the CANSLIM framework right now?"
• "Find growth stocks meeting O'Neil's growth criteria. Show me the top 5."
• "Show me top CANSLIM candidates with the strongest earnings growth."
• "Run this tech stock watchlist through the CANSLIM screener and rank them."

Methodology Notes & Limitations

Keep these practical considerations in mind when interpreting screener results:

• Strict Screening Criteria: During market corrections or bear markets, few (or zero) stocks may meet all screening thresholds. This reflects tight methodology parameters rather than tool failure.
• Screening vs. Trade Execution: A high composite score indicates strong alignment with growth criteria, but does not dictate entry timing or guarantee future price action. Further technical evaluation is recommended.
• Upcoming Earnings Events: Candidates may rank highly due to past earnings beats. Always check the earnings calendar before making investment decisions to avoid unexpected event volatility.

Efficient Growth Screening

The CANSLIM Screener simplifies the multi-factor screening process, providing investors with a fast, systematic tool to filter and rank growth candidates according to established quantitative rules.

Note: The CANSLIM Screener requires processing across large market data sets and is included in the Preferred tier and above.