ruly Freeze a version of your sheet after earnings releases
Why and how to freeze a dated version of your sheet after each earnings release, read how the score changes over time, and keep an honest record of your analyses.
Published
What a frozen version is
The “Save” button keeps the latest state of your sheet. A frozen version is something else: a dated snapshot of the score, the verdict and the value of each criterion, which you take when you decide to. It never changes afterwards, even if you edit the sheet or its strategy.
Frozen versions are part of the paid plan. On the free plan, the sheet keeps its latest state.
Why freeze after each earnings release
An analysis is redone when the figures change, that is, when the company publishes its annual or half-year accounts. Freezing a version at each release gives you an honest history: what you knew at the time, and what you concluded from it. Without that record, memory tends to keep the analyses that turned out right.
1. Update the figures
Open the sheet after the release. Go through each criterion again with the new accounts: margins, debt, FCF, share count. Update the date and, if needed, the fair value in the header, then the share price in the “Margin of safety” criterion if your strategy uses it. Criteria already filled in are collapsed to one line, and “Edit” reopens them.
Reread your thesis and your risks too. If a risk you had noted has materialized, write it down.
2. Freeze the version
Click “Freeze this version” at the top of the sheet. At least one criterion must be filled in. The version is added to the History block, with the date, the score and the verdict of each criterion.
3. Read the history
The History block shows the score curve, from the oldest version to the newest, then one table per strategy. Take a fictitious company, called Company C here, tracked with the Long-term quality preset strategy: its score goes from 83 to 78 from one release to the next, because net debt / EBITDA moved from green to orange after an acquisition. The frozen version lets you find the exact moment and the figure involved.
4. When the strategy changes
Each version keeps a copy of the strategy as of its date. If you edit the strategy, versions already frozen do not move, and the next version starts a new table. That way, you compare scores obtained with the same criteria.
Good to know
- A sheet keeps its 40 latest versions. Beyond that, the oldest ones are removed.
- A version is deleted from its row, after confirmation. The sheet and the other versions do not change.
- “Copy” puts the sheet as text on the clipboard, versions included.
To follow all your sheets at a glance, see the tutorial read the dashboard.