Last Updated: Mar 21, 2024 Value Broking 6 Mins 1.7K

The CANSLIM method is a stock-screening process invented by William O’Neil, the founder of the Investor’s Business Daily (IBD), an American stock research firm. It was first established in the 1950s, and was largely recognised as the top-performing strategy by the American Association of Individual Investors for nearly a decade, from 1998 to 2009. Furthermore, this approach is one of the most extensively researched investment methodologies in the entire stock market globe.

This one-of-a-kind system employs both technical and fundamental analysis to identify the best growth stocks to invest in. In reality, it uses technical indicators to identify stock entry and exit opportunities, whereas fundamental indicators are utilized to assess the company’s financial performance to guarantee that an investment is merited.

CANSLIM Meaning: It is a process that investors can use to select stocks that are expected to expand faster than the market average.

What is CANSLIM?

When it comes to stock market investment, investors use a range of tactics and strategies to evaluate stocks. While some traders and investors rely on technical research, others rely on fundamental analysis to make trading and investment decisions. Investors may also employ tactics that employ a combination of technical and fundamental research. The Canslim approach is one such method. This strategy enables you to select the best stocks based on predefined criteria, ensuring that your investing decision generates returns.

CANSLIM Strategy

CANSLIM is an acronym for a seven-step process that an investor needs to follow when attempting to select stocks with high future development potential. Each letter of the word represents a criterion or a significant factor that must be evaluated. Let’s take a quick look at each criterion.

C
The letter ‘C’ stands for a company’s ‘current quarterly earnings per share.’ Investors should compare a company’s current quarterly profits per share statistic to the same quarter in the prior fiscal year when looking for companies to invest in. The greater the percentage of growth, the stronger the company is generally. Most investors, as a general rule, aim for companies with a growth rate of 20% or higher.
AThe letter ‘A’ represents ‘annual earnings growth.’ The revenue earned by a corporation should ideally increase year after year. Most investors look for companies with an annual profits growth rate of 20% to 25% or higher during the last 3 to 5 years.
NThe letter ‘N’ denotes a ‘new product, service, management, or event.’ A firm should ideally be on a never-ending path of innovation and progress. Without the introduction of new products, services, or events, a company’s stock price is likely to stagnate rather than rise. On the other hand, if a firm is continually producing new goods or is in the news for good reasons, its stock price is likely to rise significantly.
SThe letter “S” denotes “supply”.  A company’s stock should ideally be in short supply and in high demand. This, in turn, would produce a scenario in which the stock enters the zone of excessive demand, causing prices to rise. Companies that buy back a portion of their own stock from the market reduce the supply of their own stock, creating increased demand and, as a result, a price increase.
LThe letter ‘L’ is an abbreviation for ‘leading.’ Canslim believes that an investor should always seek to invest in a leading firm in a leading industry. To identify leading firms, the strategy advises using a technical indicator such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI).
IThe letter “I’ denotes “institutional sponsorship”. Before investing in a firm, an investor should carefully investigate its institutional shareholding pattern. A good investment candidate should have a higher level of institutional ownership. Any recent growth in institutional shareholding is generally regarded as a favorable indicator.
MMarket orientation is represented by the letter ‘M.’ A big number of companies listed on the stock exchange tend to follow the market’s current direction or trend. As a result, before investing in a company, an investor should preferably thoroughly evaluate market movements utilizing wide market indexes to validate a significant rise.

Advantages and Disadvantages of CANSLIM

CANSLIM stocks have the biggest profit potential in the stock market. Because the stocks are found using a comprehensive data-driven method, they can yield substantial rewards to investors. CANSLIM is a bullish strategy for quick markets, thus it is not for everyone. The goal is to invest in high-growth stocks before institutional funds do get invested.

The components of Canslim can be seen as a wish list for fund managers looking for growth, thus it is only a matter of time before buying demand increases. The problem is that stocks that meet the Canslim strategy may be among the first to fall if the market direction flips and those big-spending institutional investors begin to shift to safe havens.

Moreover, identifying Canslim stocks is a wonderful technique for investors to gain an optimal entry point for stocks that are undervalued and have the potential to rally shortly. Because the Canslim technique is bullish and works well in a quick market, you can utilize the data to invest in high-growth stocks before the firms’ institutional funding increases.

It may be a suitable choice for an experienced investor with a high-risk tolerance. Because much of the value in these stocks are priced in for future growth, they cannot be purchased and merely kept. These stocks cannot be purchased and kept since most of their value is built-in for future growth, which means that any slowing in the growth trajectory or the market as a whole may result in the stock being penalized.

Conclusion

The CANSLIM technique is one of the most popular among experienced investors. It assists in identifying stocks that are not well-known to the general public but are poised to gain value and price in the near future.

This approach is a powerful investment strategy that can assist investors in identifying stocks with significant growth potential. In fact, according to a research study, this method outperformed the benchmark averages in both the short and long run. Here’s something to consider. This method is only appropriate for bull markets and up trending markets. As a result, it is not recommended to use it in a bad or falling market condition.

Now that you know what it means, you can use the method for any stock that is on an upswing. Using this approach, you can invest in high-growth equities before their justified value is reached. To invest in stocks, however, you will need a Demat and trading account, which you can open for free by visiting any trading website or downloading their app.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

In a bull market, Can slim is a great way to invest. However, it struggles in sideways and bad markets. That is why, in order to profit from this technique over a long period of time, it is important to: produce large returns of 50 percent or more each year in a bull market and remain on the sidelines during a bear market.

The parameters of CANSLIM are: Earnings Per Share (EPS) Rating, Price Strength = Relative Strength (RS) Rating, Buyer Demand Rating, and Group Strength = Industry Group Rank.