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Using the IBKR Fundamental Explorer

Lesson 4 of 4
Duration 8:39
Level Beginner
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The Fundamentals Explorer is accessible in TWS Mobile applications, Client Portal and from within TWS can be located under the New Window button. Fundamentals Explorer is shown under Information Systems and is displayed as a separate window.

What is it? – The Fundamentals Explorer is a research tool drawing together financial information and ratios, key facts about the company as well as historic data, ownership, and analysts’ forecasts. The aggregated information comes from several vendors with whom IBKR has relationships. The Explorer displays tabs below the price quote area and to the far right you will see a Search input field to help locate key information in the event you don’t easily recognize which tab that data might be displayed on.

With a symbol loaded you can see the change in price for the stock’s quote, intraday and 52-week highs and lows alongside the current quote displayed. You will also see Market Cap to the right of the company name and primary listing exchange. To the far-right of the screen you can also click the Buy/Sell buttons, which, when clicked will populate the Order Entry panel in Mosaic.

Overview tab – The default Overview tab provides 13 blocks displaying a tip-of-iceberg view of some key component. You will notice on the Overview page that there are blue arrows in the upper right of each box. Generally, you can tell which of the tabs clicking the arrow will take you to. For example, clicking the arrow in the corner of the Key Ratios block enlarges the display and takes the user to the Key Ratios tab, and you will see that the tab is now displaying white font and has the blue underscore. To return, click the Overview tab. Locate another block and click the enlarge arrow to visit another tab.

Company Profile – The tab system is intuitive and easy to navigate. The Company Profile tab offers Business and Financial Summaries, Classification and business location for example. Scroll down the page to learn more about directors and other key stakeholders.

Key Ratios – For Key Ratios, there are many commonly used financial ratios. The neat thing about the data is that each ratio has a blue expansion to the left, which when clicked displays trend data of the past several years for the company but also gives a good visualization versus the supposed industry peers. The bubble chart enables user to hover above and get granular data. The larger the bubble, the larger the peer by market cap. The hover-over displays the trailing 12-month value of the chosen ratio. The peers are automatically chosen by the software and cannot be manually adjusted.   When done, users may contract the graphic and hide from view. Use the wheel to scroll down the page.

Dividends – The Dividends page offers a graphical look at the underlying share price and dividend payment history. Hover above any bar for important dates associated with each payment. Below offers information on the dividend yield and absolute payment relative to the industry. To the right users may learn about forthcoming dividends.

Impact – Users can now see the impact of investing in a symbol on their portfolio by using the Impact Dashboard. This is a great addition to the Fundamentals Explorer and enables the user to input variables that matter to them. At the bottom of the page we display an ESG score, a Controversies score and a Combined score. Note also the ESG Whitepaper to the lower left where users may read more about an ESG framework.

Financials – The financials tab is well organized, and I should mention that there are tabs to the upper left and upper right as a useful starting point. On the left the user can select the Income statement, balance sheet or statements of cash flow. To the right the user can select either quarterly or annual statement displays. Key financial elements can be displayed graphically. Look to the left of the screen to see small blue expansion arrows. When clicked the display changes to show the last several years or quarters as well as forecasts. Use the mouse to hover over the bar which creates a popup display containing the data. Click the blue arrow again to hide the data.

The Analyst Ratings page shows the distribution of buy/sell/hold recommendations from Refinitiv Ratings (by default) and the high, medium, low and average target prices. Use the checkboxes to the top right of the chart to change the data display. Scroll down the page to see a log of Analysts’ ratings actions and use the filters to view All, Briefing.com or StreetInsider.com. Above the chart near the top of the page you can select TipRanks Ratings for more information on specific analysts following the stock or TipRanks Sentiment for bullish and bearish news. These are alternatives to Refinitiv.

The Analyst Forecast tab offers a variety of earnings, financial and ratio-based projections displayed using annual or quarterly data. Use the blue buttons to the upper right to choose the time frame. The interactive boxes below will differ depending on the symbol chosen and its associated industry. Hover above to see actual or estimated values. Note that you must hover over a future quarter to view the number of estimates and associated data.

On the News tab, articles are displayed to the left. When clicked the article populates the body of the page to the right.

Ownership – Ownership plots the company’s share price against institutional and strategic entity ownership. Use your mouse for greater definition on any series. And by scrolling down the page you can see more granular data on institutional ownership. Below that is an area for the latest recorded transactions through the Trade Log, which can be refined by the buttons to All, Insider and Institutional.

Social Sentiment – For anyone who cares about news posted on social media and its potential influence on investor behavior, is a Social Sentiment tab. At the bottom of the page is a Social Sentiment Trend indicator. This allows the user to choose a time period and determine the score for the company relative to its industry using a proprietary social sentiment index.

To the upper left notice the ticker input field, which means that you can make recently viewed symbols populate the Fundamentals Explorer, or simply input a new symbol. To the upper right notice the Group Windows function. This is an extremely useful feature since the Fundamentals Explorer will automatically populate for the latest selection you choose around TWS.

Group Windows – In addition, one of the smartest capabilities is that the Fundamentals Explorer can be used in conjunction with the Advanced Market or Mosaic scanners assuming that they use the same Group Window color. This would allow a user to create a scan for stocks, ETFs or mutual funds using specific criteria and means they can simply click on each result in the scanner.

Good luck with using the Fundamentals Explorer. It contains a wealth of knowledge about companies and enables you to quickly find key data and facts to aid your research.

Resources

IBKR Fundamental Explorer

IBKR User Guide – Fundamental Explorer

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If you have a general question, it may already be covered in our FAQs. If you have an account-specific question or concern, please reach out to Client Services.

8 thoughts on “Using the IBKR Fundamental Explorer”

  • shree

    In the TwsDde.xlsx how to get the key ratios report exported

    • Interactive Brokers

      Hello shree, thank you for reaching out. It is not possible to export the key ratios for a security. (In case you are interested, the ratios are provided by Refinitiv.)

  • Charles Brauer

    Is it possible to get Analyst Ratings with a Python script that gets the data through the TWS Api? If so, can you point me to a Python script that does that?

    • Interactive Brokers

      Hello, thanks for asking. Analyst Ratings are not available via API at Interactive Brokers.

  • Sharon Wiggin

    i am in your trial section, where is there a place to put in a symbol to get to research on it?

    • Interactive Brokers

      Hello Sharon, thank you for reaching out. In TWS, you can enter the symbol you want research for into your watchlist. Then, you can click the “New Window” button in the top left corner > Fundamental Explorer. This will open the Fundamental Explorer tool in the trial account. We hope this helps!

      Please view this FAQ for instructions to enter a symbol into the watchlist: https://www.ibkr.com/faq?id=54147453

      We hope this helps!

  • Sam Baker

    Where is the information from the analyst forcast sourced from?

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Disclosure: Interactive Brokers

The analysis in this material is provided for information only and is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security. To the extent that this material discusses general market activity, industry or sector trends or other broad-based economic or political conditions, it should not be construed as research or investment advice. To the extent that it includes references to specific securities, commodities, currencies, or other instruments, those references do not constitute a recommendation by IBKR to buy, sell or hold such investments. This material does not and is not intended to take into account the particular financial conditions, investment objectives or requirements of individual customers. Before acting on this material, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and, as necessary, seek professional advice.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Interactive Brokers, its affiliates, or its employees.

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