Every company on BigEarnings receives a Growth Trajectory Score from 0 to 100. This score is how we separate noise from signal. It surfaces the stocks most likely to reward investors after earnings based on fundamental strength, earnings consistency, and post-earnings price momentum.
What is the Growth Trajectory Score? The Growth Trajectory Score is a composite ranking from 0 to 100 that combines three weighted dimensions: fundamental revenue and EPS growth, earnings beat quality, and post-earnings price momentum. A score of 70 or above places a stock in the top tier of earnings quality across our 6,200+ company coverage universe. The score updates after every earnings report.
The Three Pillars
The Growth Trajectory Score combines three weighted dimensions:
1. Fundamental Growth (60% Weight)
The largest component measures the company's actual business trajectory over the trailing 18 months:
- Revenue growth rate — Year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter
- EPS growth rate — Accelerating, stable, or decelerating
- Margin expansion — Are profits growing faster than revenue?
- Market cap relative to sector — Context for growth expectations
We use an 18-month window deliberately — it's long enough to see sustained trends but short enough to capture recent inflection points. One-time spikes are smoothed out.
2. Beat Quality (15% Weight)
Not all beats are equal. This dimension measures the quality of a company's earnings track record:
- EPS beat rate — What percentage of quarters did the company beat?
- Beat consistency — Does it beat every quarter, or is it erratic?
- Surprise magnitude — Are the beats meaningful (+10%) or marginal (+1%)?
A company that beats estimates 8 out of 8 quarters by 5–15% scores very differently from one that alternates between big beats and misses.
3. Price Momentum (25% Weight)
The final dimension is what actually matters to your portfolio — does the stock go up after earnings?
- 1-Day performance — Immediate market reaction
- 1-Week performance — Early drift confirmation
- 1-Month performance — Where PEAD is most pronounced
- ER-to-ER performance — Full inter-quarter return
This is the BigEarnings differentiator. Most platforms don't track post-earnings price performance at all. We track it across four windows for every report, for every stock.
How Scores Are Used
Growth Trajectory Scores power our AI Top Picks, which surface the Hero Pick and Strong Picks each quarter. Scores are recalculated after every earnings report, so rankings reflect the latest available data.
You can also see any company's score on its individual ticker page, alongside the full breakdown of the three dimensions.
Why Not Equal Weights?
We tested dozens of weight configurations against historical data. The 60/15/25 split outperformed equal weights because fundamental growth is the strongest long-term predictor, while price momentum captures the immediate opportunity that matters most for earnings-focused strategies.
Beat quality at 15% prevents "serial beaters" with no growth from ranking highly while still rewarding consistency.
See Your Score Now
Every company on BigEarnings has a live Growth Trajectory Score. Here's how to use it:
- Search any ticker on BigEarnings to see its score and full breakdown
- Compare scores across competitors in the same sector to find the strongest setups
- Check AI Top Picks — these are the highest-scoring stocks heading into earnings, updated automatically each quarter
Start free — explore Growth Trajectory Scores for any stock in our coverage universe.
Key takeaway: The 60/15/25 weight split is intentional. Fundamental growth is the primary signal. Beat quality prevents one-hit wonders from scoring high. Price momentum captures what actually matters to your portfolio. A score above 70 means all three components are strong, not just one.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often is the Growth Trajectory Score updated?
Scores are recalculated after every earnings report for that company. We use an 18-month trailing window for the fundamental growth component, so a single bad quarter will move the score but won't collapse it. The price momentum component updates faster since it tracks 1-day through ER-to-ER windows.
Can a company score well on fundamentals but badly on price momentum?
Yes. A company can have excellent revenue and EPS growth but a history of selling off after earnings due to high pre-report expectations. That is exactly why price momentum is a separate component. The score penalizes stocks where fundamental quality doesn't translate into post-ER returns. See the beat-but-dropped pattern for more on this disconnect.
How does the Growth Trajectory Score relate to AI Top Picks?
AI Top Picks are ranked primarily by Growth Trajectory Score, filtered for stocks with upcoming earnings in the next 30 days. The Hero Pick each quarter is the highest-scoring stock that also has positive post-earnings drift history and a recent beat streak.