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Stock scores explained: Smart Score, Zacks Rank, Quant Rating and more

October 21, 2026 · 6 min read

Most stock research apps boil their view of a stock down to one number or label: an 8 out of 10, a Rank #1, five stars, a Strong Buy. They look interchangeable, but each one measures something different, from different inputs, over a different time frame. Here is what six well-known scores actually measure, side by side, and three questions to ask before you lean on any of them.

Three questions to ask about any score

1. What does it measure? A forecast of returns, a tally of data signals, a price against an estimate of value, or the conclusion of an analysis.
2. Over what time frame? Some scores look one to three months ahead. Others think in years.
3. Can you see why? A score you can trace back to its inputs is much easier to judge than a number on its own.

The six scores side by side

TipRanks Smart Score

TipRanks rates stocks from 1 to 10 using eight factors: what Wall Street analysts, corporate insiders, financial bloggers, individual investors and hedge fund managers are doing and saying, plus news sentiment, technicals and fundamentals. TipRanks says the factors carry equal weight and that the score is updated every day from the previous day's data. Scores of 8 to 10 are labelled Outperform, 4 to 7 Neutral and 1 to 3 Underperform.

Think of it as a tally of many signals, several of them other people's views and moves. It tells you where the crowd of signals leans, not why.

Zacks Rank

The Zacks Rank sorts about 4,000 stocks into five groups, from #1 Strong Buy to #5 Strong Sell, based on how analysts' earnings estimates are changing: how much the analysts agree, how big the changes are, how far the most accurate estimate sits from the consensus, and recent earnings surprises. Zacks describes it as a model that forecasts performance from earnings estimate revisions, with an optimal time horizon of one to three months.

It is relative and selective: only the top 5 percent of stocks get a #1. It is built for the next few months, not for judging what a business is worth.

Seeking Alpha Quant Rating

Seeking Alpha's Quant Rating runs from 1.0 (Strong Sell) to 5.0 (Strong Buy). It compares more than 100 metrics for a stock with other stocks in the same sector and sums them up in five factor grades, from A+ to F: Value, Growth, Profitability, Momentum and EPS Revisions. The rating is not a simple average of the grades, and weak grades can keep a stock from rating highly.

It updates once a day before the market opens and covers about 5,600 stocks that analysts follow. Seeking Alpha says it suits both short- and long-term investors. The factor grades are the useful part: they show which side of the business is carrying the rating.

Danelfin AI Score

Danelfin's AI Score rates stocks from 1 (strong sell) to 10 (strong buy) by their probability of beating the market over the next three months, compared with the average U.S.-listed stock or ETF. Danelfin says its AI weighs more than 900 technical, fundamental and sentiment indicators for each stock, every day. FolioLab vs Danelfin compares it with FolioLab's score in more detail.

Morningstar Rating for stocks

Morningstar's star rating compares a stock's price with a fair value estimate set by a Morningstar analyst using a discounted cash flow model, and adjusts for how uncertain that estimate is. The company's economic moat, its lasting competitive advantage, feeds into the estimate. Five stars means the price sits at the biggest risk-adjusted discount to fair value; one star means it trades at a premium.

The rating is recalculated at every market close as the price moves, and it thinks in years: Morningstar expects prices to move toward fair value generally within three years.

FolioLab research score

FolioLab's research score runs from 1 to 10 in five bands:

• Bearish 1 to 2
• Cautious 3 to 4
• Neutral 5 to 6
• Constructive 7 to 8
• Bullish 9 to 10

It is the conclusion of a written analysis, not a forecast or a rating. Three AI analysts read the technicals, the fundamentals and the sentiment. A bull and a bear researcher argue, a risk review pressure-tests the result, and an AI head of research makes the final call, which sets the band. The number inside the band follows a fixed rule from the analysts' leans, so a 10 needs a bullish call and broad agreement underneath it.

Every score comes with the full argument behind it and no buy or sell call. How a FolioLab scan works has the details.

Why one stock can score high on one app and low on another

Because the scores answer different questions. A company whose analysts keep raising their earnings estimates can earn a top Zacks Rank while trading well above Morningstar's fair value estimate, with one or two stars. A fast grower can have top grades for Growth and Momentum and a poor grade for Value. Neither number is broken; each is right about what it measures.

A disagreement is useful information. It tells you which part of the story is strong (the estimates, the momentum, the price against value) and which part needs a harder look.

How to use stock scores well

• Start with the score, then read what is behind it. Most of these apps show their inputs. Look at them.
• Match the time frame to yours. A one-to-three-month signal says little about a stock you plan to hold for ten years, and the reverse.
• Check the date. Most of these scores change daily, so a screenshot from last month is old news.
• Do not add scores up like votes. Scores built on overlapping data are not independent opinions.
• Take the fine print seriously. None of these companies promises results, and several say so plainly.
• Go past the number. When a stock matters to you, write your own bull case and bear case before you decide.

A few things to keep in mind

• How we described them. Each score is described from its owner's own materials as of October 19, 2026. Methods change, so check the current version before you rely on one.
• AI can be wrong. Every FolioLab report is researched and written entirely by AI (large language models), and two scans of the same stock can come out differently.
• Research, not advice. This post, like every FolioLab report, is research and education, not investment advice.
• Names. TipRanks, Smart Score, Zacks Rank, Seeking Alpha, Danelfin and Morningstar are trademarks of their owners. FolioLab is not affiliated with any of them.

Want a score that comes with its reasoning? Get FolioLab on the App Store. Your first two scans are free.