Most analysis about a stock is about is about price, when it can start rising. To most people, the price rising is the primary benefit of owning a stock, not buying into a business. A good stock is one that rises, a bad one falls. Neither has much to do with the business. Business conditions don't change radically in the time frames that people "invest" for. However, once you invent the idea of meeting, beating & disappointing estimates, you can create short term events & news about a business that are bettable. And thats what "investing" is for most of us, betting on events & news that create price reactions that drive buying/selling in mass scale. There's nothing wrong with this, because its human. We want action, we want quick results. Business compounding over years or decades is too slow, too glacial. This is why despite decades of Warren Buffett preaching this, few actually copy his model. We lack the time for it and our biology/genetics is not programmed for it.