Piotroski F-Score Screener

By Christian Richter | Last updated 2026-09-23

Joseph Piotroski published the F-Score in 2000 while at the University of Chicago. The idea: among cheap stocks (low price-to-book), some are cheap because they are improving and the market has not noticed yet. Others are cheap because they are deteriorating and the price is right. Nine binary tests on profitability, leverage, and operating efficiency separate the two groups. Shibui has the composite score pre-computed for every US stock with quarterly financials. You do not need to calculate the nine signals yourself. Ask for "stocks with F-Score 8 or above" and combine it with any other filter: P/E, market cap, sector, distance from 52-week high, free cash flow, or anything else you can describe.

What the screener checks

The nine signals behind the score

Each signal scores 1 (pass) or 0 (fail). The composite F-Score is the sum. Piotroski grouped them into three categories:

Shibui has the composite score pre-computed from these nine checks. You can screen by the total score directly. If you want to check individual signals, Claude can pull the underlying financial data (operating cash flow, current ratio, gross margin, etc.) and let you inspect which signals a company passes or fails.

Example screens

The classic Piotroski value screen: financially strong companies trading at low earnings multiples with cash-generative businesses. Claude filters by the pre-computed score and layers on valuation and cash flow criteria in one pass. This combination, F-Score plus valuation plus cash flow, is what most screeners cannot do in a single step.

Piotroski's original research focused on exactly this segment: high F-Score among low price-to-book stocks. His paper found that buying the top quintile of F-Scores within the lowest book-to-market quintile produced annual excess returns of roughly 7.5%. Shibui lets you replicate this screen with your own thresholds.

Combining fundamental strength with price dislocation. A stock scoring 8-9 on financial health that is still well below its recent high may be mispriced, or it may be declining for reasons the score does not capture (management changes, industry headwinds, regulatory risk). The screen surfaces candidates; the analysis is yours.

How it compares to other F-Score tools

Most platforms either do not have the Piotroski F-Score at all or show it as a static number per company without letting you screen across the market or combine it with other filters dynamically.

GuruFocus is the most established dedicated Piotroski screener, with per-company breakdowns of each signal. The trade-off is price ($499/year) and a fixed set of filter combinations. On Shibui, you describe any combination in plain English and Claude runs it. If you want pre-built rankings, watchlist alerts, or guru portfolio tracking, GuruFocus is the tool for that. If you want to define your own F-Score screen, combine it with Beneish M-Score forensics, Altman Z-Score distress screening, earnings surprise data, CAN SLIM criteria, insider buying signals, or technical indicators, and study how the screen performed historically, Shibui handles that. See the AI stock screener overview for how Shibui compares on other screening approaches.

Want to run this screen daily on a schedule? See the automated stock screener workflow for scheduling commands and prompt reliability patterns.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Piotroski F-Score?

The Piotroski F-Score is a 0 to 9 scoring system that measures a company's financial strength using nine binary signals across profitability, leverage, and operating efficiency. Joseph Piotroski introduced it in a 2000 accounting research paper. Each signal scores 1 if the company passes and 0 if it fails. A score of 8 or 9 indicates strong financials; 0 to 2 indicates weak financials. Shibui has the composite score pre-computed for 10,000+ US stocks.

Is there a free Piotroski F-Score screener?

Shibui Finance is a free Piotroski F-Score screener. Connect it to Claude (the free plan works) and describe what you want: high F-Score stocks with specific valuation, size, or sector filters. There is no subscription. The trade-off: no real-time data, no pre-built rankings or watchlists, and no automated alerts. You define the criteria yourself in plain English.

What is a good Piotroski F-Score?

A score of 8 or 9 is considered strong. Piotroski's original research found that buying high-scoring stocks (8-9) among low price-to-book companies outperformed the market by about 7.5% annually. A score of 7 is above average. Scores of 0 to 2 indicate financial distress. The score is most meaningful for value stocks, where it helps separate cheap-and-improving from cheap-and-deteriorating.

Can you backtest the Piotroski F-Score on Shibui?

Yes. Shibui has quarterly financial data going back 20 or more years for most companies, including the pre-computed F-Score. You can ask Claude to find stocks that scored 8 or 9 at any point in the past and check their subsequent returns over 1, 3, 6, or 12 months. This is a historical backtest, not a forward-looking simulation, and survivorship bias applies since delisted companies are not in the dataset.

How does the F-Score compare to the Altman Z-Score?

The Piotroski F-Score measures financial improvement (is the company getting stronger?) while the Altman Z-Score measures bankruptcy risk (how likely is the company to default?). They use different inputs and answer different questions. On Shibui, you can compute the Altman Z-Score across the full US market by including the formula in your prompt. See the Altman Z-Score screener for the formula and example queries. For detecting earnings manipulation rather than bankruptcy risk, see the Beneish M-Score screener, which uses eight indices to flag companies whose financial statements show patterns associated with manipulation.

Does Finviz have a Piotroski F-Score screener?

No. Finviz does not include the Piotroski F-Score as a screening filter. GuruFocus has a dedicated Piotroski screen but limits free users. Shibui has the F-Score pre-computed and lets you combine it with any other filter (P/E, market cap, 52-week position, sector) in a single plain-English query.