finance-research-agent: Skill for Claude Code

SWOT study

A SWOT is a synthesis, not a single tool call — and a list of generic bullet points ("strong brand", "competitive industry") is not a SWOT, it's a template. Internal factors (Strengths, Weaknesses) come from the company's own business and financials, tested for durability, not just asserted; external factors (Opportunities, Threats) come from its industry structure, competitors and the macro/regulatory backdrop, structured so nothing obvious gets skipped. Every point must be evidenced.

Procedure

1. Resolve the symbol and establish what the company does — business_profile (revenue mix, KPIs, market share).

2. Internal — Strengths & Weaknesses, tested with VRIO. For every candidate Strength, run it through the VRIO test before it earns the label:

   • Valuable — does it actually let the company exploit an opportunity or neutralise a threat (show up in margin, growth, or market share — not just asserted)?
   • Rare — do most competitors lack it, per competitive_position's peer benchmarking?
   • Inimitable — how hard/costly would it be for a competitor to replicate (regulatory licence, patent, network effect, switching cost, scale economics) vs easily copyable (a current low price, a temporary capacity edge)?
   • Organised to capture it — is the company's own capital allocation/execution actually converting the advantage into returns (capital_allocation, financial_health ROCE trend), or is the advantage real but poorly monetised? A claimed strength that fails Rare or Inimitable is a temporary advantage — label it that way, don't inflate it to a moat. Sources:
   • financial_health — durable growth, margins, ROCE, balance-sheet strength → candidate strengths; its concern/watch flags → weaknesses.
   • competitive_position — where it leads vs lags peers on operating metrics / market share (this is the Rare test's evidence).
   • forensic_checks + shareholding_trends — governance strengths or weaknesses.
   • capital_allocation — disciplined reinvestment / cash return (strength, and the Organised test's evidence) vs debt-funded or FCF-negative growth (weakness).