Backtested Scanners
Phoenix Double Signal
19 Hits · last calculated August 11, 2026 Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q) · Market filter active: the list shows 0 hits from Germany
Methodology & criteria
The return from a real crisis, in the form we back-tested for you. First the crisis: at least two consecutive fiscal years with a bottom-line loss, and in the latest of them at least one sign of balance-sheet distress as well — negative operating cash flow, current assets below current liabilities, equity that is negative or has fallen by more than 30% within two years, or a cash balance that no longer covers four quarters at the current rate of cash burn. Then the sign of life — and not one but at least two DIFFERENT ones out of this group of three, either in one set of accounts or spread across two consecutive ones: operating cash flow is positive again while the bottom line is still a loss; revenue accelerates out of stagnation (at most 5% the year before, at least 20% now); net debt, meaning financial debt minus cash, falls without new shares being issued for it. Only a turn achieved under the company's own steam is shown: anyone who paid for the comeback with fresh shares (share count up more than 10% since the crisis began) or by selling off half the business (total assets down more than 20%) is missing from this list — in the back-test the median single position there was down by a double-digit percentage. From 100 million dollars of revenue upwards, and that is the sharpest finding of the whole calculation: above 100 million dollars the rule carried 20.20% per year across 349 of the 440 purchases, between 10 and 100 million dollars it was −3.37% and below that −16.87%. Banks, insurers and financial services companies are excluded — a crisis means something different there. In the back-test from May 2002 to July 2026, on a data set that keeps stocks which have since disappeared from the market: 855 signals, resulting in 440 purchases; 20.23% per year against 10.46% for the S&P 500 including dividends, 9.32% for the equal-weighted universe and 14.23% for the toughest benchmark of all — a portfolio holding EVERY crisis company. With no fixed holding period, meaning held for as long as every further set of annual accounts carries two of the three signs on its own, it was 21.13%. That is what the list reproduces: once a set of accounts falls below two signs, the stock drops off the list, and that is where the back-tested recipe sells. Honest caveats: only 47.4% of all crisis companies ever reach another profitable year, 5.2% disappear from the market before they do, and the typical position returned just 5.17% over twelve months at a hit rate of 54.1% — the annual figure of the portfolio comes from a few multi-baggers. Source: fundamental data.
Global filters: market cap of $50B or less (mega caps are cut from every scanner); 10- and 30-day ADR must be ≥ 1% (too little movement gets cut); names after a reverse split (distorted price history) are excluded.
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Hit List
Tip: clicking a column header sorts the table by that column; a second click flips the direction.
| Symbol | Revenue Base ($M) | Signs of Life | Earnings | Avg/Y 3Y | Volatility | Stage | Funda Rating | Piotroski | MktCap | Industry | AI Rating | Deep Dive | Deep-Dive Report | Sector | Price | YTD | 6 Mo. | 1 Year | Off High | Price Target | RS | EPS Rating | ADR 10D | ADR 30D | Beta | P/E | P/E (f) | P/S | P/B | P/FCF | PEG | EV/EBITDA | EBIT Margin | Gross Margin | Net Margin | ROE | ROA | Debt/Eq | Equity Ratio | Sales +/Y | Growth Score | Div. Yield | Payout Ratio | Altman Z | Inst. % | Short % | Analysts |
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Frequently Asked Questions
The return from a real crisis, in the form we back-tested for you.
All scanners are recalculated daily across the entire stock universe — most recently on August 11, 2026. The data basis is fundamental data and SEC filings (10-K annual reports and 10-Q quarterly reports).
Currently, 19 stocks pass this scanner's criteria (as of August 11, 2026).
Global filters: market cap of $50B or less (mega caps are cut from every scanner); 10- and 30-day ADR must be ≥ 1% (too little movement gets cut); names after a reverse split (distorted price history) are excluded.
The scanner looks for the point at which a company measurably comes back from a real crisis — measured in the accounts, not in the share price. The calculation runs on annual accounts, because the rule reaches at least five fiscal years back. Three things have to come together. First the crisis, and it has to be a real one: at least two consecutive fiscal years with a bottom-line loss, and in the latest of those loss years at least one sign of balance-sheet distress as well — negative operating cash flow, current assets below current liabilities, equity that is negative or has fallen by more than 30% within two years, or a cash balance that no longer covers four quarters at the current rate of cash burn. Second the double signal: at least two DIFFERENT signs of life out of a group of three, either in one set of accounts or spread across two consecutive ones. The three are: operating cash flow is positive again while the bottom line is still a loss; revenue accelerates out of stagnation, having grown at most 5% the year before and at least 20% now; and net debt, meaning financial debt minus cash, falls against the previous year without new shares being issued for it. Two different ones, not the same one twice: a sign of life that persists is not a second sign. Third, the return has to come under the company's own steam. The share count may have risen by no more than 10% since the crisis began, and total assets may have fallen by no more than 20%. That is not a detail: more than half of all measured signals sit in the diluted segment, and there the typical position produced a double-digit loss. If the share count is not reported at all, the question cannot be answered, and an unanswerable question does not count as a yes here. On top of that comes the size cut-off: from 100 million dollars of revenue upwards. This is the sharpest finding of the back-test — above that mark the rule produced 20.20% per year across 349 of the 440 purchases, between 10 and 100 million dollars minus 3.37%, and below that minus 16.87%. Banks, insurers and financial services companies are excluded entirely. Only accounts that genuinely follow one another are compared, too — between 0.7 and 1.5 years apart. A wider gap means a year is missing, and the jump across that gap would look like a powerful turn while being nothing but a hole in the data. We back-tested the rule from May 2002 to July 2026 on a data set that includes stocks which have since disappeared from the market: 855 signals, resulting in 440 purchases. That produced 20.23% per year against 10.46% for the S&P 500 including dividends, 9.32% for the equal-weighted universe and 14.23% for the toughest benchmark of all, a portfolio holding EVERY crisis company. With no fixed holding period — held for as long as every further set of annual accounts carries two of the three signs of life on its own — it was 21.13%, and that is the version this scanner reproduces: the buy happens at the first set of accounts showing the double signal, where the two signs may be spread across two consecutive sets; the position is then held only for as long as each individual set carries two signs. The pairing does not work as a holding rule — it would keep the stock listed a year too long. Three caveats belong to this honestly. Only 47.4% of all crisis companies ever reach another profitable year, and 5.2% disappear from the market before they do. The typical single position returned only 5.17% over twelve months at a hit rate of 54.1% — the annual figure of the portfolio comes from a few multi-baggers plus monthly rebalancing, not from the average case. And the sector classification is static, meaning today's classification applied backwards. All figures and caveats are in the study. A hit is a find, not a buy signal. Source: fundamental data and SEC filings (annual reports 10-K and quarterly reports 10-Q).
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Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.