AI Analyst for Pennies: 10 Prompts for Claude That Will Replace an Expensive Stock Expert
The market for analytical services is undergoing a tectonic shift. A set of ten specialized prompts for Claude allows any investor—from novice to professional—to conduct deep fundamental analysis of companies and crypto projects at the level of leading consulting firms. This is not just automation; it is the democratization of access to high-quality research.
The First Five: From General Overview to Valuation
The first prompt turns Claude into a senior analyst capable of preparing a research report understandable even to a beginner. It covers the business model, revenue sources, industry trends, competitors, financial results, and growth drivers. The key requirements are reliance on fresh public data, a clear separation of facts and assumptions, and the development of bull/base/bear scenarios.
The second prompt focuses on dissecting the company's latest earnings call: five main takeaways, revenue and margin dynamics, management tone, surprises, and analyst concerns. The result is a table of key metrics with an explanation of why each indicator is important.
The third prompt forces Claude to put on the "black hat" of a skeptic. It looks for red flags in revenue quality, margins, cash flow, debt, dilution, insider transactions, and management wording. Each issue is assigned a severity rating, and an overall risk score from 1 to 10 is given at the end.
The fourth and fifth prompts are dedicated to competitive advantages and fair value. One assesses the company's "moat"—brand, network effects, switching costs, scale, intellectual property—and compares it with competitors. The second compares multiples (P/E, EV/Revenue, EV/EBITDA) and determines whether the company is overvalued, undervalued, or fairly valued.
The Second Five: From DCF Model to a Beginner's Checklist
The sixth prompt helps build realistic assumptions for a discounted cash flow (DCF) model. It generates bear, base, and bull scenarios for revenue growth, margins, tax rate, capital expenditures, and discount rate, explaining the logic behind each assumption.
The seventh prompt creates a catalyst calendar for 3, 6, and 12 months: reports, product launches, investor days, regulatory decisions, lawsuits, macro events, management changes, buybacks, and dividends. For each event, it specifies timing, impact, upside and downside risks, confidence level, and source.
The eighth prompt evaluates the management team: the CEO's track record, CFO credibility, forecast accuracy, transparency, capital allocation, M&A, insider ownership, and compensation. The ninth simulates an investment committee debate, where Claude creates a bull analyst and a bear analyst, and a neutral judge explains which position is stronger.
The tenth prompt turns Claude into a patient teacher who explains the company in simple terms: what it does, how it makes money, what could go right and wrong, and how things stand regarding profitability, growth, debt, and valuation. At the end, a beginner's checklist is generated.
My expert opinion: This set is a powerful tool for structuring research, but it does not eliminate the need for data verification and independent decision-making. AI excels at routine tasks and synthesis, but intuition, context, and understanding of market psychology remain with the human. Use these prompts as an accelerator, not a replacement for critical thinking.