What Is GuruFocus?
Launched in 2004 by Dr. Charlie Tian, GuruFocus is a stock research and investing platform with a strong focus on value investments. GuruFocus started as a research platform for investors looking to replicate the success of the best investors (gurus); Tian’s idea was that by studying and comparing the investments of the most successful gurus and making their investments accordingly, regular investors could expect similar returns.
Tian’s idea was a success, and as of 2022, GuruFocus has more than 1 million monthly users worldwide. Even though GuruFocus started tracking gurus – and continues to do so, tracking investors like Buffet, Bill Gates, and George Soros –it also offers real-time data, Insider Picks, Market Valuation Indicators, and one of the best stock screeners in the market: the GuruFocus All-In-One Stock Screener.
In this quick GuruFocus summary, I will go over all the best features of this platform. If you want to read a more in-depth analysis, check out our full GuruFocus review.
Pros & Cons of GuruFocus
Pros
- All-in-one Stock Screener
- Set up unlimited filters
- Real-time data and Insider Trading Transactions
- 7-day free trial
- Helpful customer support available 24/7
- Track how pros like Warren Buffet are investing through Guru Statistics
- Top 10 Holdings of Gurus
- Mobile app available on Android and iOS devices
- Sector & Industry Performance Overview
- Access 30 years of financial data
Cons
- High annual fees
- Requires some investing experience
Guru Lists And Real-Time Picks
GuruFocus is a unique platform in that you can gain insight into the trades of top investing minds (Gurus) like Warren Buffet, Carl Icahn, and Bill Ackman. From the GuruFocus dashboard, you can track and filter all investments by Guru, ticket, date, price, and more.
Additionally, you can access Guru Statistics and see how each Guru compares to the other using the Guru Portfolios and the Scoreboard features, where all Gurus are ranked by performance. If you want a quick glimpse into the portfolios of the most successful investors, you can see the full breakdown of the Top 10 Holdings of each Guru, sort by sector, and find trends.
Advanced Charting Tools And Screeners
Tracking your favorite investors is good for getting an idea, but if you want to become a better investor, you need to know why they’re making those choices. GuruFocus makes this very easy; without ever leaving the GuruFocus dashboard, you can choose any list – for example, Real Time Picks, Sector Picks, or Top 10 Holdings – and simply hover over each stock or ticker. You will immediately be able to visualize:
- Early Warning signs
- Market Cap, Enterprise Value, Volume, and more
- Valuation: Net Current Asset Value, Graham Number, Peter Lynch Value, and more
- 30-Year Financials
- Overvalued vs. Undervalued interactive charts
- Guru Trades
GuruFocus is extremely user-friendly – unlike Zacks Investment – and doesn’t force you to go through endless pages to find valuable data. For reference, here are some of the most popular Guru lists:
- Latest Picks
- Real-Time Picks
- Sector Picks
- International Picks
- Consensus Picks
- Guru Bargains
All-In-One Stock Screener
If you’d instead find your investments and then compare them with the professionals, GuruFocus has got you covered. The GuruFocus All-In-One Stock Screener is complete in the market, with 9 primary filters and dozens of highly customizable parameters. Here are main the main filters:
- Fundamentals
- Valuation Ratio
- Profitability
- Growth
- Valuation Rank
- Price
- Dividends
- Insiders
- Gurus
Traders can filter individually using one of the primary filters or apply all filters across a search. We recommend the All-In-One Stock Screener for experienced investors, as it can be overwhelming for beginners. If you want to try it, we recommend checking out GuruFocus’s educational resources and tutorials beforehand.
GuruFocus Educational Resources
GuruFocus is generally marketed towards experienced investors looking to take their investments to the next level. However, GuruFocus makes it easy for new investors to onboard with their comprehensive educational resources – accessible for free –which include everything from a Getting Started guide to navigating Stock Valuation & Ranking and using the All-In-One Stock Screener.
Gurufocus also runs community events like the Value Investing Live Series and Member Engagement Meeting, where you can interact directly with other investors and discuss all things investing. If you have any problem or question, the GuruFocus support team is available 24/7 to help you.
GuruFocus Fees
- Premium Subscription: $499/year
- Premium Plus Subscription: $1,348/year
- Professional Subscription: $2,398/year
Keep in mind all three basic subscriptions include one region – if you want to add additional regions from the list, there’s an additional fee of $499/year per region. If you use our link below, you’ll only pay $399/year per additional region.
For reference, here’s a list of the regions available:
- USA, Asia, and Europe: $499/year each (or $399/year if you use our link)
- Canada, UK/Ireland, Australia, Latin America, Africa, and India: $319/year each (or $219/year if you use our link)
If you’re looking for a more affordable option, we recommend Morningstar, one of the most established newsletters and research platforms in the world.
Sign-Up Process
GuruFocus is available for investors worldwide, and there are no special requirements to sign up. To get started, you need a valid email address; here are the steps to sign up:
- Visit GuruFocus’s website
- Click Sign Up on the top right
- Enter an email address and create a password
If you use our link to sign up, you will get a discount of $100 on all additional regions plus access to a 7-day free trial with complete access. If you use our link, you will get a personalized referral link that you can use to invite friends and earn $50 every time one of them signs up.
GuruFocus Trustpilot Reviews
GuruFocus has excellent reviews from its users, and it holds an average rating of 4.6 on Trustpilot. Here’s what some of those users have to say about GuruFocus:
- “Gurufocus is the absolute best screener I have found! Gurufocus is even more versatile a screener than I expected when I subscribed. I consider it essential that both technical and fundamental criteria can be applied to find your stocks.” – DD S.
- “I have had a subscription with Gurufocus for 12 years. I use their screener to find companies with the fundamentals that I like. I love that the site emails me daily the additions and deletions from the various screeners I have. This makes my research much quicker.” – Doug T.
- “The customer support is amazing! Gurufocus is one of the best financial databases I have used. I will recommend Gurufocus to anyone who needs a solid financial database.” – Gerald T.
- “I raised several tickets (bug, usability, feature requests). The reaction was always incredibly fast. Furthermore, GuruFocus is willing to implement changes when they make sense.” – Volker M.
If you are not fully convinced that this particular service is for you after reading these reviews, we recommend booking a completely free live demo session with James Li – a GuruFocus analyst – where he will personally go over the key features of the platform and answer any questions you may have.
Alternatively, you can try out one of the fastest-growing stock advising platforms in the US; Seeking Alpha.
Final Thoughts
GuruFocus is an excellent research platform for investors looking to replicate the success of investing legends Warren Buffet, Carl Icahn, and Bill Ackman. With GuruFocus, you can seamlessly compare Guru’s portfolios, find common stocks, access real-time and backtested data, or even research with one of the most advanced stock screeners in the market. For those reasons, we recommend GuruFocus for knowledgeable value investors looking to gain an edge over the competition.