Minute 1 to 3: the income statement, top to bottom
Revenue: is it growing over five years, not one? Then gross profit against revenue (the gross margin): that is pricing power. Then operating income: what running the business actually earns. Then net income, knowing it is the most stylable number of the three.
The pattern you want: revenue rising, margins stable or rising. Revenue rising while margins fall means growth is being bought with discounts or spending, which has a shelf life.
Minute 4 to 6: the cash flow statement, the honest one
Operating cash flow is the closest thing to truth in the pack: cash that actually arrived. Compare it to net income over a few years; they should travel together. Profits that never become cash are a rumour with an accounting department.
Then free cash flow: operating cash minus the equipment and buildings the business must buy (capex). This is the money that can pay dividends, retire debt, or buy back shares. A company can survive years of styled profits but not many of negative free cash flow.
Minute 7 to 8: the balance sheet, for survival
Two checks. Debt against equity: how much of the business is built on borrowed money. And cash against short-term obligations: can it pay this year's bills without borrowing more. High debt does not kill great businesses in good years; it kills them in the one bad year.
Minute 9 to 10: the six numbers on one card
Revenue growth (5-year), gross margin, operating margin, free cash flow, debt to equity, and return on equity. Those six, tracked over five years, tell you more than a hundred headlines. SteadyShares computes them per stock with each term explained in a sentence, and flags per-share history so buybacks and dilution cannot hide.
One habit completes it: read the numbers before you read anyone's opinion, including ours. The order protects you from narrative.