TickerGuard
Buy Day today: Good (62) Broad market participation · no major macro event

Value & GARP

Turnaround Candidates

38 Hits · last calculated September 18, 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

First the crash, then the turn: whoever spots a turnaround early buys far below the old highs — as with Puma, which quintupled from early 2001 to mid-2003 once its restructuring took hold. This scanner hunts exactly these candidates with a 4-pillar model: two mandatory pillars establish the crash and survival, while the 8-point Turn Check evidences the actual turn.

What this scanner checks

  1. The Crash Mandatory

    The stock trades at least 50% below its all-time high. No real crash, no turnaround — otherwise you'd just catch ordinary growth stocks.

  2. Survival Mandatory

    Altman Z-Score outside the danger zone, at most one balance sheet warning sign, positive equity. The most important pillar: the classic turnaround mistake is going bankrupt before the turn happens.

  3. The Operating Turn Turn Check · 4 points

    Revenue stabilizes, net margin and operating cash flow improve, the balance sheet heals. What counts is the direction, not the condition — losses can still be losses as long as they are shrinking.

  4. Market Confirmation Turn Check · 4 points

    The price is back above the 50-day line, relative strength is turning, insiders are net buyers, and the big funds are adding — the market is starting to rethink the stock.

Shown are stocks that satisfy both mandatory pillars and hit at least 6 of the 8 Turn Check points — the "Turn Check" column shows each stock's score. Tradability is a precondition (price > $3, average dollar volume > $2 million), and stocks distorted by reverse splits are excluded. Source: fundamental data. · No global trading filters — this strategy checks the entire stock universe purely against its own criteria (mega caps over $50B included).

Important: A turnaround remains a bet on the turn — the list is an invitation to research, not a buy signal.

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The Criteria in Detail

Pillar 1 — The Crash (mandatory)

  • The stock trades at least 50% below its all-time high. No real crash, no turnaround; otherwise you'd just catch ordinary growth stocks.

Pillar 2 — Survival (mandatory)

  • The Altman Z-Score — a proven bankruptcy early-warning system built from several balance sheet ratios — sits outside the danger zone.
  • The balance sheet shows at most one warning sign.
  • Equity is positive.
  • The most important pillar: the classic turnaround mistake is going bankrupt before the turn happens. Fail either of the two mandatory pillars and you are out.

Pillar 3 — The Operating Turn (4 Turn Check points)

  • Revenue is no longer declining in the most recent quarter — or the decline has shrunk for two quarters running.
  • Net margin is above where it stood three quarters ago and has risen most recently.
  • Operating cash flow is positive or has improved for two quarters running.
  • The balance sheet is healing: Altman Z-Score or interest coverage is above where it stood three quarters ago.

Pillar 4 — Market Confirmation (4 Turn Check points)

  • The price is back above the 50-day line.
  • Relative strength over the last 3 months beats the last 12 — the market is starting to rethink the stock.
  • Insiders are net buyers of their own shares.
  • The big funds are adding to their positions.

Terms in This Scanner Explained

(18)
ADR (Average Daily Range)
The average daily swing of a stock in percent - measured over 10 or 30 trading days (columns "ADR 10D/30D"). An ADR of 5% means: on a normal day the gap between the intraday low and high runs about 5%. Traders look for movement - that is why stocks with an ADR under 1% are filtered out globally. Scanners that run without the global filters still include them; that is noted below their hit list. Not to be confused with ADR meaning "American Depositary Receipt" (a US certificate for foreign shares) - here ADR always means the daily swing.
AI Classification
Our company-by-company assessment of the AI boom based on SEC filings (the last four quarterly 10-Q reports and two annual 10-K reports): "Sells AI" (AI is a revenue source), "Threatened" (AI is a concrete business risk), "Uses AI" (operational use), or "Neutral" (no material AI exposure). Every classification requires at least two direct quote citations - otherwise the column shows "-". Not a quality judgment or a buy recommendation; the full file is on the stock page, methodology at /stocks/ai-rating-methodology.
Altman Z-Score
A bankruptcy early-warning system developed by Edward Altman: several balance-sheet ratios are combined into one score. We use the Z″ variant, built from four balance-sheet ratios — it is designed for service companies and non-manufacturers and uses book value instead of market value. Values from 2.6 up are considered a safe zone, values below 1.1 a distress zone with elevated bankruptcy risk; in between lies a grey area. Because the classic Altman Z is calculated differently, the two numbers are not directly comparable. The formula does not fit banks, insurers, or real-estate stocks.
Analysis (Full Company Analysis)
If the Analysis column shows "Read," there is an in-depth TickerGuard company analysis for this stock: business model, scanner findings, quarterly results, evidence from SEC filings, plus opportunities and risks. One click opens it directly.
Avg/Yr 3Y (Average Annual Return)
The stock's average annual return over the past 3 years. Shows at a glance whether a stock delivers over the long run or just had a short hot streak.
Earnings Date
The date of the next quarterly earnings report. Price gaps in either direction are common around this date - that is why we color it red when it is 7 days away or less, and yellow when it is 14 days away or less: elevated risk for fresh positions.
EPS (Earnings per Share)
Quarterly earnings divided by the number of shares outstanding. The most important growth metric: if EPS rises strongly over several quarters, the company is earning more money per share.
Free Cash Flow (FCF)
Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures - the money left over for everything else (debt paydown, acquisitions, or buybacks). Consistently positive free cash flow is one of the most honest signs of a healthy business model.
Funda Rating (Fundamental Rating A+ to F)
Our proprietary fundamental rating from 0 to 100 points with a school-grade rank from A+ to F. 50 points is the average across the universe, 100 the best possible score. Every stock is scored against all others by percentile: growth in earnings and revenue, earnings surprises, analyst estimates, and quality criteria such as margins, cash flow, and balance-sheet strength. Grades: A+ from 95, A from 75, B from 55, C from 45, D from 25, E from 5, F below — A/A+ are the fundamentally strongest stocks in the universe.
Insider Buying / Selling
Purchases and sales of a company's own stock by executives and officers - subject to SEC disclosure in the US. Insiders sell for many reasons (a house, taxes), but they buy for essentially one reason: they think the stock is too cheap.
Long / Short
Long = betting on rising prices (buying the stock). Short = betting on falling prices (selling borrowed shares to buy them back cheaper later). Our short scanners are warning or watch lists - not buy candidates.
Market Capitalization (Mkt Cap)
The market value of the company: share price x total shares outstanding, shown here in billions of dollars. Micro caps (< $0.3B) are small and volatile, mega caps (> $200B) are heavyweights. Our scanner universe is deliberately capped at $50B - we look for stocks with room to run. The cap does not apply to scanners that run without the global filters; that is noted below their hit list.
Net Margin
How much of revenue is left as profit? Net income divided by revenue, in percent. A 20% margin means: out of every dollar of revenue, 20 cents is left as profit. Rising margins are a strong quality signal.
Operating Cash Flow (OCF)
The cash that actually flows into the company from day-to-day operations - without accounting effects such as depreciation. A company can report book profits while still burning cash; operating cash flow reveals that.
Piotroski F-Score
A balance-sheet health check developed by Joseph Piotroski: 9 yes/no criteria covering earnings, cash flow, leverage, and efficiency produce a score from 0 to 9. Scores of 7 or higher are considered financially very solid, scores under 3 a warning sign.
Reverse Split
A share consolidation, e.g., 10 old shares become 1 new share - the price appears to jump tenfold without the company becoming worth more. Struggling companies use this to avoid looking like a penny stock; we automatically filter out such distorted stocks.
Sector & Industry
Two levels of industry classification: sector is broad (e.g., Technology), industry is narrow (e.g., Semiconductors). Many strategies watch industry strength, because strong stocks are almost always found in strong industries.
Stage (Weinstein Stages 1-4)
Stan Weinstein divides every price chart into four stages: Stage 1 = basing (sideways after a downtrend), Stage 2 = uptrend (the only buying stage), Stage 3 = topping, Stage 4 = downtrend (avoid, or short candidate). Measured against the 30-week line (150-day moving average) and its slope.

View all terms in the Scanner Glossary

Hit List

Tip: clicking a column header sorts the table by that column; a second click flips the direction.

Turnaround Candidates
Symbol Turn Check 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
No stocks currently pass this scanner.

Frequently Asked Questions

A turnaround is the reversal of fortune of a struggling company: first the stock crashes, then the business turns around — and whoever spots the turn early buys far below the old highs. Famous example: Puma quintupled from early 2001 to mid-2003 once its restructuring took hold. This scanner hunts exactly these candidates with a 4-pillar model.

All scanners are recalculated daily across the entire stock universe — most recently on September 18, 2026. The data basis is fundamental data and SEC filings (10-K annual reports and 10-Q quarterly reports).

Currently, 38 stocks pass this scanner's criteria (as of September 18, 2026).

No global trading filters — this strategy checks the entire stock universe purely against its own criteria (mega caps over $50B included).

The Turn Check counts how many of eight turnaround signals a stock shows. Four check the operational turn — as direction over recent quarters, because a turnaround is a movement, not a state: sales are no longer declining in the latest quarter (or the decline has narrowed two quarters in a row), net margin sits above its level of three quarters ago and has been rising lately, operating cash flow is positive or improving two quarters in a row, and the Altman Z-Score or interest coverage sits above its level of three quarters ago (the balance sheet is healing). Losses are still allowed to be losses — what matters is that they're shrinking. Four signals check market confirmation: price above the 50-day line, relative strength over the last 3 months above that of the last 12, insiders buying on a net basis, big funds adding. Only stocks scoring at least 6 of the 8 points make the scanner — after first passing the entry requirement: at least 50% below the all-time high AND survival secured (Altman Z-Score outside the danger zone, at most one balance-sheet red flag, positive equity).

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Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.

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