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Best way to protect capital in stock investing: SWOT analysis

By DK Aggarwal

Investing in the stock market is considered one of the best ways to accumulate wealth.

But before jumping into investing in a stock, one needs to analyse it. Stock investing can be extremely rewarding if the investment decision is based on fundamentals.

SWOT analysis – an acronym for studying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats – for a stock is one of the most widely used tools to perform a ‘qualitative’ study on a business. Doing a SWOT analysis is similar to brainstorming at meetings, and there are different ways to run them.

It is especially useful when performing a comparative study on companies. At the same time, it can help understand a company’s market position and competitive advantages. It’s a valuable way to assess both the pros and cons of a potential investment or business and can help in strategic planning and decision-making.

Strength and weakness’ are the internal factors of a business while opportunities and threats are external. Each area is important individually, but when used together, they make a powerful analytical tool. We can take advantage of opportunities and protect against threats, but you can’t change them. A company with a lot of opportunities has a lot of scope to succeed and make profit in the future. A thorough understanding of the weaknesses can enable a company to eliminate threats that could otherwise catch them off-guard.

Let us understand this with an example. In 2017, the government launched Bharat Stage (BS)- IV fuel. That meant, thereby, that the sale of BS III-compliant vehicles would be banned across the country. Those automobile companies, which were quick to realise the opportunity, started working on BS-IV vehicles months before the expected launch date. Hence, they became profitable.

On the other hand, companies that did not do the opportunity or threat analysis properly had to face a lot of troubles as they could not sale the old vehicles. They suffered a big loss on their finished products and inventories.

Once the SWOT analysis is completed, results should be consolidated so that all the positive opportunities — and any negative trends that can affect an investment strategy can be watched. Moreover, a SWOT analysis should be to the point and simple, so as to avoid confusion or over-analysis. Actually, it gives investors an opportunity to look at companies logically.

By utilising SWOT analysis, investors can be one step closer to reaching their investment goals. It can enable proactive thinking, rather than relying on habitual or instinctive reactions. Moreover, it can bear fruits in the form of long-term gains and protect your capital to a great extent.

Chairman and MD, SMC Investments and Advisors
Source: Economic Times