Daily Screen · The Five At The Top

The five at the top, 29 September 2026.

1,169 companies read from their own SEC filings and put in order on the close of 29 September. What the screen likes in each of the five, and what the same arithmetic does not like.

This note as a 3:52 video, read aloud. Watch on YouTube.

1,169 US companies were ranked on the close of Tuesday, 29 September 2026. Yelp is first with a score of 80.0, as it was the session before. Progyny joins the five, and Pacira BioSciences drops out. The biggest move among them: Yelp, up 3.9% 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 $3.0, 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 1,169 companies were ranked and 155 were left out for want of data.

The five

#CompanyPriceScoreCheapQualSafeConf
1YELPYelp · Consumer Services$18.2880.097926311
2NRDSNerdWallet · Technology$8.5479.597846525
3CRCTCricut · Industrials$6.4178.278985760
4CRLCharles River Labs · Biotech & Pharma$295.9677.385746778
5PGNYProgyny · Healthcare Services$24.7977.180868033

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

Price $18.28Score 80.0EV/EBIT 5.6×EV/FCF 2.8×ROIC 24.7%Net cash12-month −26.4%
Cheapness 40%97
Quality 30%92
Safety 20%63
Confirmation 10%11
What the screen likes

Cheapness of 97: enterprise value 5.6 times operating profit, 2.8 times free cash flow and a 28.5% trailing shareholder yield. Quality of 92: 24.7% return on invested capital and profits backed by cash.

What it doesn’t

Confirmation of 11: down 26.4% over twelve months and at 73% 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 $17.59 with a score of 80.4; today's close is +3.9% on that.

2 · NerdWallet — Technology

Price $8.54Score 79.5EV/EBIT 6.9×EV/FCF 3.9×ROIC 20.6%Net cash12-month −10.1%
Cheapness 40%97
Quality 30%84
Safety 20%65
Confirmation 10%25
What the screen likes

Cheapness of 97: enterprise value 6.9 times operating profit, 3.9 times free cash flow and a 12.5% trailing shareholder yield. Quality of 84: 20.6% return on invested capital and profits backed by cash.

What it doesn’t

Confirmation of 25: down 10.1% over twelve months and at 83% 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 $8.52 with a score of 79.5; today's close is +0.2% on that.

3 · Cricut — Industrials

Price $6.41Score 78.2EV/EBIT 10.6×EV/FCF 5.5×ROIC 68.5%Net cash12-month −7.6%
Cheapness 40%78
Quality 30%98
Safety 20%57
Confirmation 10%60
What the screen likes

Quality of 98: 68.5% return on invested capital and profits backed by cash. Cheapness of 78: enterprise value 10.6 times operating profit, 5.5 times free cash flow and a 1.8% trailing shareholder yield.

What it doesn’t

Safety of 57: net cash, interest covered 185.2 times and share count down 1.2% on the year.

The session before it was #3 at $6.33 with a score of 78.2; today's close is +1.3% on that.

4 · Charles River Labs — Biotech & Pharma

Price $295.96Score 77.3EV/EBIT 32.8×EV/FCF 19.1×ROIC 12.3%Net cash12-month +96.2%
Cheapness 40%85
Quality 30%74
Safety 20%67
Confirmation 10%78
What the screen likes

Cheapness of 85: enterprise value 32.8 times operating profit, 19.1 times free cash flow and a 2.5% trailing shareholder yield. Confirmation of 78: up 96.2% over twelve months and at 142% of its 200-day average.

What it doesn’t

Safety of 67: net cash, no meaningful interest cost and share count down 2.1% on the year.

The filings did not supply gross profitability, so the score leans on fewer measures than usual.

The session before it was #4 at $294.59 with a score of 77.3; today's close is +0.5% on that.

5 · Progyny — Healthcare Services

Price $24.79Score 77.1EV/EBIT 18.7×EV/FCF 9.4×ROIC 24.8%Net cash12-month +21.2%
Cheapness 40%80
Quality 30%86
Safety 20%80
Confirmation 10%33
What the screen likes

Quality of 86: 24.8% return on invested capital and profits backed by cash. Safety of 80: net cash, no meaningful interest cost and share count down 8.9% on the year.

What it doesn’t

Confirmation of 33: up 21.2% over twelve months and at 102% of its 200-day average.

The session before it was #6 at $25.52 with a score of 76.7; today's close is −2.9% 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 29 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.

All field notes

Notice Educational research only — not investment advice. The Vance Report is not a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer.
Screened securities are high-risk, volatile, and may involve total loss of principal. Data may be delayed or inaccurate — verify before relying on it.