FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is TipRanks?

Simply put, TipRanks gives you all the information you need to know who to trust and make educated investment decisions. TipRanks is a financial accountability engine that uses machine learning and Natural Language Processing algorithms to measure the performance of anyone giving investment advice online. TipRanks allows you to see the track record and measured performance of any stock analyst, blogger, hedge fund, or corporate insider dating back to January, 2009.

How is TipRanks Star Ranking™ calculated?

Our ranking system was developed alongside the Cornell Finance Department and incorporates all ratings made since January, 2009.

Our star ranking calculation combines both of the Success Rate and Average Return of each financial expert; however the success rate is secondary to the ability of the analyst to generate positive returns. This combination then uses the Z Test to incorporate the significance of the amount of data in order to determine what is statistically more difficult to achieve.

What makes a Top Analyst?

Top Analysts are those who fall in the top 20% to top 30% of all analysts, outperforming the remaining 70% to 80% of analysts. Analysts are measured using the TipRanks Star Ranking™, which combines both the Success Rate and Average Return of every expert.

When viewing the Analyst Consensus Rating and Price Target on a stock, Premium users have the option to view ‘All Analyst Consensus & Price Target’ or the ‘Best Performing Analyst Consensus & Price Target’ which filters the results to only include top performing analysts.

How are analysts’ ratings measured?

An analyst’s success rate and average return per stock is calculated by measuring all Buy and Sell ratings on that stock. Hold ratings close any open Buy or Sell positions. Likewise, a downgrade to Sell will close the previous Buy rating, and vice versa.

When an analyst issues a Hold rating, we treat it as though the analyst effectively closed any open positions he/she had on the stock. On our default settings, Buy ratings are measured for one year unless the analyst downgrades to a Hold within those 12 months. In this case, the Hold rating is only used to close the Buy rating before the one year mark. Profit is not measured after a Hold rating is made.

When an analyst issues a Sell rating, we effectively close any open Buy positions the analyst had on the stock and in turn open a short position on the stock.

How is the Analyst Consensus Rating calculated?

The Analyst Consensus is at the top of each stock page. The consensus is calculated with a 3-point system that incorporates the analyst ratings made over the last 3 months where:

Buy = 1

Hold = 3

Sell = 5

The score of every rating made in the last 3 months is calculated to provide one of 5 consensuses:

Strong Buy: less than or equal to 1.5

Moderate Buy: more than 1.5, but less than or equal to 2.5

Hold: more than 2.5, but less than or equal to 3.5

Moderate Sell: more than 3.5, but less than or equal to 4.5

Strong Sell: more than 4.5

A stock can have a Strong Buy/Strong Sell consensus only if it received 3 or more ratings in the last 3 months. If a stock has only 1 or 2 ratings from the last 3 months and is a Strong Buy/Strong Sell, it will be normalized to Moderate Buy/Moderate Sell, respectively.

Premium users can also view the Top Analyst Consensus, which incorporates only ratings made by the best performing analysts.

How can I find new investment ideas?

1. Visit the Trending Stocks page to see which stocks are generating the most analyst commentary
2. Visit the Top Stocks by Analysts page to see on which stocks analysts are most bullish
3. Visit the Top Stocks by Insiders page to see which stocks corporate insiders are buying

How do we collect the ratings and how quickly are they posted on the website?

TipRanks picks up all ratings made on stocks on US markets that are publicly published online. By using Natural Language Processing, we monitor reputable websites to find new ratings. While the majority of ratings appear on TipRanks as soon as the rating is picked up, a handful of ratings are delayed for manual review with our data validation team to endure the ratings' accuracy.

What is a Corporate Insider?     

Corporate Insiders are company executives, Board members, or 10% shareholders of the publicly traded companies. When Corporate Insiders buy or sell shares of their own companies, they are required to submit the transactions to the SEC within two working days.

What is the difference between Informative transactions and uninformative transactions?

Uninformative transactions indicate that an Insider is buying/selling shares for reasons that do not necessarily indicate confidence in the company. Therefore, they do not hold much significance. For example, an Uninformative Buy in insider trading can be an insider who is given shares as a form of compensation. Likewise, Uninformative Sells are often Insiders who are exercising options that are about to expire, or cashing in shares that are given to them as a form of payment.

Informative Buy/Sell transactions are deliberately made by Insiders, thus donning a vote of confidence in the company.

How can I personalize TipRanks according to my investment strategy? 

While TipRanks does not tell you where to invest, TipRanks provides you with the tools that allow you to invest with greater confidence when evaluating expert recommendations.

With the TipRanks Smart Portfolio, you can view all recent activity of favorite stocks, analysts, bloggers, and corporate insiders in one central location. With an Ultimate membership, you may create multiple portfolios to reflect your investment strategies.

Stay up-to-date on your investment by subscribing to email alerts. Follow different stocks, analysts, or bloggers to receive instantaneous emails on new ratings.

How does the benchmark affect performance measurements?

TipRanks default settings measure analyst performance over no benchmark, meaning that any movement in the stock is calculated as a gain or loss for the analyst. For example, if an analyst recommends buying shares of a stock when it is at $20 and the stock climbs to $25, the analyst earns a 25% profit on the call.

When you change the benchmark to sector, the return is measured against that of the corresponding Sector SPDR ETF. For example, let’s say you buy shares of a technology stock when it is at $20 and the stock climbs to $25. In the same time period, XLK; the SPDR Technology Sector ETF; climbs from $20 to $30, the analyst’s rating is calculated as a loss because it gained less than the sector as a whole.

When you change the benchmark to S&P 500, the return is measured against the movement of the S&P 500 in the same period. Let’s say an analyst recommends buying a stock when it is $50, but the stock then falls to $40. This is a 20% drop. However, if the S&P drops more than 20% in the same time period, the analyst’s recommendation will have outperformed the market and therefore show a profit.

How often are hedge fund pages updated?

Hedge fund pages are updated on a quarterly basis as 13F forms are submitted to the SEC.

Hedge funds must submit the 13F form to the SEC within 45 days after every quarter (most hedge funds wait until the end of this 45-day window). The hedge fund information on TipRanks updates automatically as the 13F forms are submitted to the SEC.

How are dividends incorporated into ratings and share prices?

When a dividend is issued, the opening price of the stock is adjusted to reflect the payout. These adjustments are based on both the amount of the dividend and the closing price on the pay date.

Is there a mobile app?

We have a mobile app for iOS users. An android app will be developed in the future. In the meantime, the app is mobile-friendly and supported by our support team.

I can't access my account! What do I do?

Please make sure you know your username. It is the email you either signed up or paid with. Please make sure you know your password. If you're not sure please reset your password.

If this doesn't work or you're having trouble accessing your account - please contact support.

I Have Forgotten or Want to Change my Password

- Please go to the password restore page.

- Enter your account email address.

- Follow the instructions in the email you receive.

- If you are logged in, you can go to My Account page and click on 'Password change'.

Cancellation Policy

TipRanks annual memberships come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you wish to cancel your annual subscription within the first 30 days of your membership you can contact us at support@tipranks.com and we will refund the full yearly membership fee, no questions asked.

This 30-day money-back guarantee applies to all subsequent annual membership renewals as well. This means that during the first 30 days of your annual renewals, you will receive the same 30-day money-back guarantee.

For further inquiries, please feel free to contact us.