ChatGPT Prompts for Stock Research: 12 for Reading Filings

ChatGPT prompts for stock research work best when you paste the company's own filings and call notes and ask the AI to organize, compute, and question them rather than predict anything. The 12 prompts below take you from understanding the business to tracking a thesis over years. Keep every figure tied to a source line, and treat the output as research notes, not investment advice.

Understand the business

1. Plain-language business model

Here is the business section of [company]'s latest 10-K [paste]. Explain what the company sells, who pays it, and how it makes money in 5 plain sentences. Quote the line each sentence comes from.

2. Segment breakdown

From this segment note [paste], build a table of each segment's revenue and operating income for the two years shown, with the change in dollars and percent. Show your math and flag any segment that shrank.

3. Competitor list from the filing

List every competitor and competitive factor named in this excerpt [paste]. Do not add competitors that are not in the text; mark where I should look for more.

Read the filings

4. Key numbers with changes

Pull net sales, gross margin, operating income, inventory, cash, and debt from these statements [paste] for both periods. Compute each change, round to one decimal, and name the line each number came from.

5. Risk factor triage

Here are the risk factors [paste]. Group them into company-specific and generic boilerplate, and list the 5 company-specific ones I should read in full first, with the reason.

6. Year-over-year risk factor changes

Compare last year's risk factors [paste] with this year's [paste]. List new, removed, and reworded risks, quoting the changed sentences.

Earnings calls and updates

7. Earnings call summary

Summarize these call notes [paste] into what management said about sales, margins, costs, and outlook. Separate stated facts from management's opinions, and list anything they declined to answer.

8. Questions for investor relations

Based on these numbers [paste] and my thesis [thesis], write 6 specific questions I could send to investor relations or listen for on the next call.

9. Quarter-to-quarter tracker

Add this quarter's figures [paste] to my tracking table [paste]. Highlight any metric that moved against my thesis and explain the move in one line.

Test and track your thesis

10. Bull and bear case from my own notes

Using only my notes [paste], write the strongest case for and against [company], each with the evidence behind it. Do not add price targets or ratings.

11. Thesis checkpoints

My thesis is [thesis] and I plan to hold for [time]. List 4 business signals I can check each quarter that would show the thesis is working or broken.

12. Pre-decision checklist

Before I make any decision on [company], turn my research [paste] into a checklist of what I know, what I am assuming, and what I still have not checked, with the filing section to check next.

Build a full checklist in one prompt

The flagship Stock Research Prompt: Company Checklist From Your Filings takes your 10-K and 10-Q excerpts, earnings notes, thesis, holding period, and questions. It returns a business snapshot, a key numbers table with the math shown, a thesis test, red flags, call questions, and thesis checkpoints. Its example uses a fictional retailer whose inventory grew 27.4% while sales grew 6.8%.

Using ChatGPT for stock research safely

AI chat tools can misread tables and may state numbers from memory that are out of date, so paste the source text and check every figure against the original filing. Ask for the math, not just the answer. Nothing here is financial or investment advice; for decisions about your own money, consider talking to a licensed professional.

Related prompts

To pull management's discussion straight from a filing, use the 10-K MD&A extractor. For call transcripts, try the earnings call Q&A extractor. Advisors can find client-side prompts in ChatGPT prompts for financial advisors.

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