Certification Academy
One article per test area of each level. The articles cover the complete curriculum of the given exam - read the series of your level and you know what the test demands.
Level 1 - Stock Analyst
Market basics
Stock Analyst: How the stock market really works
What you actually buy when you buy a stock, how its price comes about, and why the price alone tells you nothing. The first area of the Stock Analyst certification covers the fundamentals everything else is built on.
Income statement
Stock Analyst: Read an income statement like an analyst
Revenue is not profit, and profit is not money in the bank. A guide to the income statement from the top line to EPS - the second area of the Stock Analyst certification.
Balance sheet and cash flow
Stock Analyst: The balance sheet and cash flow - where financial health shows
The income statement says how much a company earns. Whether it survives harder times, you learn from the balance sheet and the cash flow statement. The third area of the Stock Analyst certification.
Valuation
Stock Analyst: Valuation - how to tell what a stock is really worth
A cheap stock is not identified by its exchange price. Learn to read market cap, P/E and the other valuation multiples that separate price from value.
Dividends and shareholder returns
Stock Analyst: Dividends and buybacks - how companies return money to shareholders
A dividend is a share of profit, not a guaranteed annuity. How payouts work, what the payout ratio reveals, and when a high yield is a warning rather than an opportunity.
Portfolio and risk
Stock Analyst: Portfolio and risk - the discipline that makes returns
Long-term returns are not built on picking the right moment but on discipline. Diversification, regular investing and compounding are every investor's basic toolkit.
Level 2 - Senior Analyst
Market basics
Senior Analyst: Earnings season and the power of expectations
A record quarter, and the stock falls. The second level of the Bulios certification begins where the numbers themselves end: with expectations, guidance and the mechanics that move prices during earnings season.
Income statement
Senior Analyst: Margins, operating leverage and earnings quality
Revenue grows by a fifth and profit by more than half - other times it is the reverse. Operating leverage, the difference between ROIC and ROE, and earnings quality are among the most valuable things an analyst reads in an income statement.
Balance sheet and cash flow
Senior Analyst: Cash flow and capital efficiency
Profit is an opinion, cash is a fact. Learn to judge companies through free cash flow, capital intensity and debt ratios - exactly as the Senior Analyst exam requires.
Valuation
Senior Analyst: Valuation multiples in practice - from EV to return decomposition
P/E is only the beginning. Learn to compute enterprise value, use EV/EBITDA and PEG, and decompose a stock's return into earnings growth and multiple change - the toolkit no serious valuation can do without.
Dividends and shareholder returns
Senior Analyst: Sustainable dividends and buyback math
A high dividend yield is not the same thing as a good dividend stock. How to recognize a payout covered by cash, compute a buyback's effect on EPS, and tell when a buyback creates value and when it destroys it.
Portfolio and risk
Senior Analyst: Sectors, quality and position size
Diversification is the beginning, not the end. How sectors behave through the cycle, what marks a quality company, and why position size matters as much as stock selection.
Level 3 - Expert Analyst
Market basics
Expert Analyst: Rates, inflation and cycles - how macro moves valuations
Interest rates are the gravity of the market: the higher they climb, the harder they pull valuations down. The third level of the Bulios certification teaches you to read how macro transmits into stock prices - from the yield curve to credit spreads.
Income statement
Expert Analyst: Earnings quality and accounting red flags
Profit grows, cash stands still - and that is exactly where the expert's work begins. Learn to spot stretched receivables, capitalized costs, never-ending "one-offs" and the other tricks that can dress up an income statement.
Balance sheet and cash flow
Expert Analyst: Shareholder dilution and hidden balance sheet risks
Stock-based compensation, convertible bonds, leases and pension deficits - obligations easily missed in the basic ratios. An expert reads the balance sheet including what is not visible at first glance.
Valuation
Expert Analyst: DCF from WACC to reverse valuation
Discounted cash flow is the backbone of fundamental valuation - and the most easily abused model in the world. Learn what a DCF is made of, when to trust it, when to reach for multiples instead, and how to read from a stock price what the market has already built into it.
Dividends and shareholder returns
Expert Analyst: Capital allocation - the most important job of management
Retain or distribute? Buyback or dividend? Decisions about earned cash are what separates great companies from average ones over the long run - and an expert can judge whether management allocates capital rationally.
Portfolio and risk
Expert Analyst: Cyclical traps and the mathematics of losses
A 50% loss takes a 100% gain to recover, and the cheapest-looking cyclical stock tends to be the most expensive. The third level of the certification closes with the mathematics of risk, correlations in crises and position sizing.