1,171 US companies were ranked on the close of Friday, 25 September. Yelp stays first with a score of 80.2. The same five names hold from Thursday, with Charles River Labs and BorgWarner swapping fourth and fifth. The biggest move among them: BorgWarner, up 4.9% on the day.
How to read the four numbers
Every company gets four scores, and each is a percentile against other companies in its own sector, on the same day. Cheapness 98 means the company looks cheaper than 98% of its sector on enterprise value against operating profit, free cash flow and sales, plus what it returns to shareholders. It does not mean cheap against the market.
The four combine into one composite: cheapness 40%, quality 30%, safety 20%, confirmation 10%. To be ranked at all a company must trade above $3, be worth $300 million, and turn over $2 million of stock a day. Banks, insurers and property trusts are excluded, because enterprise-value measures do not describe those balance sheets honestly. This session 1,171 companies were ranked and 156 were left out for want of data.
The five
| # | Company | Price | Score | Cheap | Qual | Safe | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | YELPYelp · Consumer Services | $18.03 | 80.2 | 98 | 92 | 63 | 9 |
| 2 | NRDSNerdWallet · Technology | $8.50 | 79.5 | 97 | 84 | 65 | 25 |
| 3 | CRCTCricut · Industrials | $6.14 | 78.1 | 79 | 98 | 57 | 55 |
| 4 | CRLCharles River Labs · Biotech & Pharma | $292.84 | 77.5 | 85 | 75 | 67 | 78 |
| 5 | BWABorgwarner Inc. · Autos & Transport Equipment | $61.32 | 76.8 | 78 | 68 | 82 | 87 |
Everything except the price comes from each company’s most recent SEC filings, which can lag a quarter behind the news.
1 · Yelp — Consumer Services
Cheapness of 98: enterprise value 5.5 times operating profit, 2.8 times free cash flow and a 28.9% trailing shareholder yield. Quality of 92: 24.7% return on invested capital and negative accruals, so profits are backed by cash.
Confirmation of 9: down 28.0% over twelve months and trading at 72% of its 200-day average.
The filings did not supply gross profitability, so the score leans on fewer measures than usual. The shareholder yield is a trailing twelve-month figure, divided by today's market value: a lower price raises it without a dollar more being returned.
The session before it was #1 at $18.37 with a score of 80.2; today's close is −1.9% on that.
2 · NerdWallet — Technology
Cheapness of 97: enterprise value 6.9 times operating profit, 3.9 times free cash flow and a 12.6% trailing shareholder yield. Quality of 84: 20.6% return on invested capital and negative accruals, so profits are backed by cash.
Confirmation of 25: down 9.8% over twelve months and trading at 82% of its 200-day average.
The filings did not supply gross profitability, so the score leans on fewer measures than usual.
The session before it was #2 at $8.20 with a score of 79.7; today's close is +3.7% on that.
3 · Cricut — Industrials
Quality of 98: 68.5% return on invested capital and negative accruals, so profits are backed by cash. Cheapness of 79: enterprise value 10.0 times operating profit, 5.3 times free cash flow and a 1.9% trailing shareholder yield.
Confirmation of 55: down 13.9% over twelve months and trading at 131% of its 200-day average.
The session before it was #3 at $5.92 with a score of 78.5; today's close is +3.7% on that.
4 · Charles River Labs — Biotech & Pharma
Cheapness of 85: enterprise value 32.5 times operating profit, 18.9 times free cash flow and a 2.6% trailing shareholder yield. Confirmation of 78: up 97.5% over twelve months and trading at 141% of its 200-day average.
Safety of 67: net cash, no meaningful interest cost and share count down 2.1% over the year.
The filings did not supply gross profitability, so the score leans on fewer measures than usual.
The session before it was #5 at $294.44 with a score of 77.4; today's close is −0.5% on that.
5 · Borgwarner Inc. — Autos & Transport Equipment
Confirmation of 87: up 49.2% over twelve months and trading at 104% of its 200-day average. Safety of 82: no meaningful interest cost and share count down 5.3% over the year.
Quality of 68: 16.0% return on invested capital.
The filings did not supply EV/free cash flow, accruals and net debt/EBITDA, so the score leans on fewer measures than usual.
The session before it was #4 at $58.48 with a score of 77.5; today's close is +4.9% on that.
The standing limit: in testing, this ranking ordered the universe — the bottom decile performed consistently worse than the top — but the top decile itself performed about in line with the market. A high rank buys a shorter reading list. It does not buy a return.
Sources: The Vance Report’s own screen file for 25 September 2026, built from SEC company facts and Nasdaq closing prices; the method is at how the Vance Value Screener works. Educational research, not investment advice.