We Scored the S&P 100 on 10 Fundamental Checks — Only One Stock Passed 8
How healthy are America's biggest companies, fundamentally? We ran the S&P 100 universe — 105 large-cap tickers — through Stoxly's standard 10-point fundamental analysis, the same checks every visitor gets when they analyze a stock on this site. 97 companies returned complete enough data to score. Here is what the numbers say, as of August 10, 2026.
The headline results
- The median S&P 100 company passes just 5 of 10 checks. No company passed more than 8.
- Only one company — Medtronic (MDT) — passed 8 checks, the highest score in the study. Nine more passed 7: Adobe, AMD, Amazon, Comcast, Disney, Intuit, Nike, Nvidia and AT&T.
- The median trailing P/E was 23.7, just under our "reasonably valued" threshold of 25. Almost half (47%) of the companies with a computable P/E traded above it.
- Only 24% grew revenue faster than 10% per year (3–4 year CAGR from their own annual filings). Slow growth is by far the most common reason a mega-cap fails our screen: 72 of 97 companies ended up with a "Low Growth" verdict.
- Profitability is not the problem. 93% clear the 5% return-on-equity bar (median ROE: 20.9%), 78% have operating margins above 10% (median: 20.2%), and 88% generate positive free cash flow (median FCF yield: 4.0%).
- Balance-sheet liquidity is the weakest area: only 13% hold a quick ratio above 1.5. Mature companies deliberately run lean on cash — which is exactly why a screen flags it.
Pass rate per check
| Check (pass condition) | Companies with data | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth > 10%/yr | 95 | 24% |
| P/E ratio < 25 | 90 | 53% |
| Return on equity > 5% | 89 | 93% |
| Quick ratio > 1.5 | 82 | 13% |
| Price-to-book < 3 | 86 | 35% |
| Debt-to-equity < 1 | 84 | 58% |
| Operating margin > 10% | 77 | 78% |
| Return on assets > 5% | 96 | 66% |
| Free cash flow yield > 0% | 92 | 88% |
The score distribution is a clean bell curve centered on 4–5 points: 28 companies scored exactly 5, 23 scored 4, and only 11 companies scored 7 or better.
Verdict breakdown
Stoxly maps each score and failure pattern to a descriptive verdict. Across the 97 scored companies:
| Verdict | Companies | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Low Growth | 72 | 74% |
| Overvalued | 12 | 12% |
| Liquidity Risk | 8 | 8% |
| Strong Fundamentals | 5 | 5% |
Three out of four of America's largest companies fail the growth screen. That is not a flaw in the companies — it is what maturity looks like. A $500B business rarely compounds revenue at 10%+ — and this is precisely why a one-size-fits-all checklist should be read as a conversation starter, not a conclusion. A low score tells you which questions to ask next, as we explain in how to research a stock before buying.
Methodology
- Universe: 105 large-cap US tickers (the S&P 100 constituents, one share class per company). 97 scored; 8 were excluded because their filings could not be fully mapped to our ratio checks (mostly banks and holding structures).
- Data: fundamentals are computed from each company's own annual XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR, combined with market prices from Yahoo Finance on the study date. Market cap uses the latest SEC-reported share count.
- Checks: the same 10 pass/fail criteria used in every Stoxly analysis, with identical thresholds. The PEG check was excluded from this study because a growth-adjusted P/E is not consistently derivable from filings alone, so the effective maximum score here is 9.
- Missing data never scores: a check whose input a company did not report is skipped, not failed.
We plan to re-run this study quarterly and track how the distribution shifts — the "Updated" date above reflects the latest run. Feel free to cite these figures with a link to this page.
FAQ
What is the median P/E ratio of the S&P 100?
As of August 10, 2026, the median trailing P/E ratio across 90 S&P 100 companies with computable earnings was 23.7, based on SEC-reported net income and current market prices. About 53% traded below a P/E of 25, a common threshold for reasonable valuation among large caps.
How many S&P 100 companies have strong fundamentals?
In our August 2026 study, only 5 of 97 scored companies (about 5%) earned Stoxly's "Strong Fundamentals" verdict, and only one company — Medtronic — passed 8 of the 10 checks. The median company passed 5, with slow revenue growth being the most common failed check.
Why do so many large companies fail the revenue growth check?
Because size works against growth: only 24% of S&P 100 companies grew revenue faster than 10% per year over the last 3–4 fiscal years. Mature mega-caps typically compound in the low single digits, which is normal — but it means investors buying them are usually paying for stability and cash flow, not expansion.
Want to see how any individual stock scores on the same 10 checks? Run a free analysis — it takes about 10 seconds.
This study is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Verdicts are descriptive scores, not recommendations to buy or sell any security.
For educational purposes only — not financial advice.