MoatLens does not make the decision for you — it makes it traceable. This guide shows the path experienced users take through the app. Budget ten to twenty minutes for a company you don't know yet. At the top of every stock page sits a bar with five labels — Score · Figures · Trends · Range · Journal. It is roughly the table of contents to this guide: one tap takes you straight to the section.
Type the company name into the search field, not just the symbol. MoatLens covers the major European and American exchanges. If the same company is listed on several exchanges, pick the home listing — the data is most complete there.
The MoatLens Score summarises eight quality factors. It does not tell you whether to buy — it tells you how strong the business looks in the numbers. A low score is not a rejection, it is an invitation to look closer. A high score is not a free pass.
The real value sits one level down. Tap each of the eight factors: you see which metric is behind it, how it is calculated and what counts as solid. Do that three or four times and you will read every balance sheet differently afterwards.
Switch to the trend view. The decisive question is not “how high is the margin?” but “where has it been heading for ten years?”. Rising margins with rising revenue is a different picture from rising margins with shrinking revenue. Watch free cash flow in particular — it is the hardest number to dress up.
This view answers a question many investors never ask: has my slice grown or shrunk over the years? A falling share count means your stake grows without you doing anything. A rising count means dilution — your piece of the pie gets smaller.
The AI summary describes the business model, capital allocation, competitive advantage and risks. It does not judge, and it deliberately never sees the price. Use it as an entry point, not a replacement: whatever stands out, check it in the original filing.
The steps before this tell you how good the business is. None of them tells you what you are willing to pay for it. Open “Your value range” and set the assumptions yourself — how fast the company grows, what return you expect at a minimum. Under every slider it says in plain words what your assumption means, and above them stand three numbers instead of one: cautious, middle, optimistic. Three, because a single number claims a precision that an estimate over ten years does not have. Anyone who hands you a finished number has merely hidden their own assumptions.
If a slider is too coarse for you, tap the value and type it in directly — including outside the range the slider offers. The sliders are a convenience, not a limit.
When you save, MoatLens keeps your assumptions — not the result. Next time you open it, the range is calculated again from them, and your journal shows what you assumed back then. A year from now you will see not just that you changed your mind, but where.
The investment journal is the least popular and most valuable part. Write down in three sentences why you find this company interesting and what would have to happen for you to change your mind. In two years that note is worth more than any chart, because you can check whether your reasoning still holds. In the app the journal sits under Tools; for a single company you can also reach it from the bar at the top of the stock page.
The score describes the quality of the business. It says nothing about the price. An outstanding company can be a poor investment if too much is paid for it — and no app takes that judgement off your hands. It can give you a place for it, though: in “Your value range” you set the assumptions yourself and see what follows from them.
A high ROE with high debt is something entirely different from a high ROE without debt. Metrics only form a picture together — which is why MoatLens shows them side by side.
The sliders in the value range invite you to keep pushing until the result you want appears. At that point the calculation only confirms your own hope. Fix the assumptions before you look at the result — and change one only if you can give a reason that has nothing to do with the result.
The portfolio check — under “Tools” in the app — is convenient, but the bigger insight lies in comparison. Analyse three companies from the same industry back to back — the differences will jump out at you.
