I think we all need to create a process that works for us like you have done Benzi.
FBR falls outside my usual process which I use to evaluate later stage companies because of its pre-Revenue early start-up stage.
It's not possible to model out things like earnings yield, Growth,earnings stability, etc like you can with later stage companies with a pre-Revenue company like FBR.
The only overlap is when thinking qualitatively about the Moat which for me includes my assessment of the companies TAM, Product differentiation, brand/reputation, customer network effect and competitor lock out effect/scale, etc.
To be honest, I had to do a full on discounted cash flow valuation on FBR to get a handle on my valuation of FBR because it falls so far outside the type of companies I normally look at.
I am only holding FBR, Google, Amazon and ASML atm.
To be honest, I feel pretty protective over my evaluation process as I consider it my super secret sauce that I have spent many many many years refining.
My hint is in creating your own process would be to be mindful of the distortions caused by GAAP accounting.
GAAP accounting was originally set-up in the days when companies concentrated around fixed rather than intangible assets.
You have to pay particular attention to the way R&D expenses are treated as an expense of the current period, thereby imipacting Operating Income, when R&D expenses are more of an asset than expense. This is particularly impactful when looking at companies with large R&D budgets.
It makes companies spending big on R&D appear to be more expensive than they are.
Also, in my view, your primary measure for earnings yield should be Operating Income / Enterprise value as this correctly accounts for the companies capital structure and Debt. This provides a better indication of ROIC than using earnings yield that looks at Net Income over Market Cap, because it considers the efficient/or lack thereof use of borrowed funds.
To each their own. I view my investments through a bit of a unique lens and I'm happy to go against the grain.
In fact I generally feel like you need to go against the grain and think outside the square in most cases to see the true value.
Don't follow so called investment experts because based what I have seen/witnessed there are pretty large fundamental gaps in their analysis/research/thesis.
Don't forget that price is what you pay, value is what you get.
Learn to appreciate volatility because of the opportunities to take advantage of over optimism and over pessimism.
Importantly, don't forget to do your own research and make your own investment decisions, etc. etc.
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