Analyzing Financial Statements with Claude
How to upload P&L, balance sheets, and cash flow statements to Claude, extract key ratios (ROE, current ratio, D/E, gross margin), analyze trends, and automatically detect red flags.
Take the annual report of any public company (from ir.company.com or SEC EDGAR). Copy the P&L and balance sheet. Paste into the prompt from this lesson and get a full ratio analysis. Compare the result with broker analyst reports for the same company.
Copy and adapt to your context. Text in angle brackets should be replaced.
Analyze this financial statement and calculate the following ratios: 1. Gross Margin = Gross Profit / Revenue 2. Operating Margin = Operating Income / Revenue 3. Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities 4. Debt-to-Equity = Total Debt / Shareholders' Equity 5. ROE = Net Income / Shareholders' Equity For each ratio: current value, YoY change, and whether it's a RED FLAG (outside industry norms). Industry: [INDUSTRY]. Financial Statement: [PASTE HERE] Note: This analysis is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
Pasting data without column headers — Claude doesn't know what's what. Not specifying the industry — benchmarks vary significantly. Analyzing one period without comparison — trends matter more than absolutes. Making decisions based solely on AI analysis without verifying primary sources.