Seeking Alpha Review
Seeking Alpha eliminates the "guesswork from your investing decisions." But is it worth the subscription fee? Is Seeking Alpha right for you?
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$50 Off Seeking Alpha Premium with 7 Day Free Trial | |||
Overall Score | 4.4 | ||
Price | 4.0 | ||
Mobile App | 4.0 | ||
Ease of Use | 4.0 | ||
Performance | 5.0 | ||
Research | 5.0 | ||
Pros and Cons
- High-quality content
- High performance of recommended stocks
- Access to expert analysis
- Highly technical
- Lack of interface customization
- Some inaccurate articles
Bottom Line
Crowdsourced investment analysis for research-driven stock investors
Choosing which stocks to buy can be a daunting task. Without the needed information, how do you make smart investment decisions? Seeking Alpha claims their Premium plan can guide you.
In this review, find out the key features, price, pros and cons of Seeking Alpha. Plus, learn whether its Premium service is worth the money.
What Is Seeking Alpha?
Seeking Alpha is an online investment research platform. It offers market analysis, stock reviews, and crowdsourced investing perspectives. It's like the Yelp of stocks.
It has a team of editors who curate its crowdsourced content to ensure that every article is of high quality.
Seeking Alpha is also a community. It is now the largest investing community with 20 million monthly users. It also has 7,000 contributors publishing 10,000 investing insights each month. [1]
Yes, Seeking Alpha is reliable based on its historical performance. Over the past decade, its top-rated stocks have consistently brought higher returns than the S&P 500. It has an average annualized return of over 25%.[2]
Unfortunately, only some of this information is for free. Unlimited access to these benefits requires a subscription to their Premium plan. But is it worth your time and money? Let's take a closer look.
What You Get with Seeking Alpha Premium
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With Seeking Alpha Premium, you gain essential tools for discovering and assessing which stocks to buy, sell, or hold.
- Stock Ratings and Factor Grades
The ratings and factor grades provide you with a quick objective assessment of each stock. This is good if you want to use data to make your own investing decisions. - Top-rated Stocks
These stocks received the highest rating from Seeking Alpha authors, Wall Street analysts, and Seeking Alpha's quantitative metrics. You can choose from this list if you're wondering about which stocks to buy. - Customized Content
This gives you a quick view of analysis and breaking news that may affect your investments. - Stocks Screener
This feature tells you the stocks rated as "Strong Buy" in various sectors, categories, and industries. - Data Visualizations
You get access to charts, graphs, and trends that help you understand the historical performance of each company.
- mutual funds
- ETFs
- commodities
- cryptocurrency
Now, let's look at how premium features fit different kinds of investors.
Whom is Seeking Alpha Premium Best For
Seeking Alpha Premium is best for:
- Research-driven investors
- Long-term investors
- Those who need help in choosing what stocks or funds to buy
- Investors and traders who value technical content
Most of Seeking Alpha's stock analysis articles are not for beginners. The analysis tends to be too technical.
However, the Premium subscription can also be good for beginners because of the list of top-rated stocks. Those are good if you don't want to do research.
Who Should Skip Seeking Alpha Premium
The Premium plan may not be for:
- Traders who lean on shorter time frames
- Investors who don't want to pick individual stocks
- Those who may easily get overwhelmed with a wealth of information
- Investors who are not interested in managing their own portfolio
Pros And Cons of Seeking Alpha Premium
Here is an overview of what you should consider before subscribing to Seeking Alpha's Premium Plan.
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Is Seeking Alpha Membership Worth It?
Yes, Seeking Alpha is worth it for different kinds of investors. The subscription fee is a good deal if you're managing your own portfolio. And for beginners, the education and quick access features are most helpful.
Seeking Alpha's top-rated stocks have an average annual return of about 25%.
That means you can potentially earn back your membership fee if you invest $1,000 on its recommended stocks.
The solid investment research and education you can get from the platform are also invaluable. You get access to investing ideas, ratings, and comparisons not covered anywhere else. That alone is worth more than the Premium subscription fee.
In addition, Seeking Alpha Premium users are pleased with the up-to-date news and comprehensive investment data Seeking Alpha provides. Premium users also appreciate the expert analysis and views that help them arrive at their own investment decisions.
You should if you are a research-driven investor. But it's best to try it out first before deciding to subscribe. Seeking Alpha offers a free trial for its Premium and Pro plans. You can explore the platform within the trial period to see if it's the right fit for you.
Pricing Plans For Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha offers three plans: Basic, Premium, and Pro. Check out the table below for a quick comparison of the plans.
| Features | Basic | Premium | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email alerts | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Real-time news updates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free portfolio health check | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Stock prices & charts | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Wall Street Ratings | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Seeking Alpha Author Ratings | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Quant Ratings | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Stock Dividend Grades | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Top Ideas | ✓ | ||
| PRO content & newsletters | ✓ | ||
| Short ideas portals | ✓ | ||
| VIP Service | ✓ |
Basic Plan
The Basic plan has a paywall for its content. You can only access one article per month. This plan is right for you if:
- You're just a market observer
- You only need to see the latest industry headlines, article summaries, and stock prices
Premium Plan
The Premium plan gives you unlimited access to Premium content, and includes valuable stock ratings and the Top Rated Stocks. It's right for you if:
- You're a DIY investor who needs help in choosing what stocks to buy, sell, or hold
- You need research and data to make your own investment decisions
Pro Plan
The Pro plan gives you quick access to the cream-of-the-crop investing perspectives. It's right for you if:
- You're managing a significant investment portfolio
- You want to filter the thousands of ideas in the platform;
Next, let us check each plan's key features and see how they might fit your investment needs.
Key Features Of Seeking Alpha Premium
Seeking Alpha has a ton of features to help you manage, explore, and analyze stocks and other assets. It has all the features of the Basic plan, plus more. Let's dive into its key features:
- Portfolio Syncing
The Premium plan allows you to link your portfolio from your brokerage account. It allows you to monitor your investments all in one place.It also has additional data, including ratings, rating history, factor grades, and financial statements from over five years ago.
Haven't started investing yet? You can create a Seeking Alpha portfolio with stocks you want to monitor.
- Content Optimization
What's so good about Seeking Alpha is it caters to investors of varying levels. It offers optimized content depending on your preference, goals, and chosen stocks.You will mostly see ratings, analysis, and news that may affect your portfolio.
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Right off the start of your subscription, it will immediately ask you to choose among these three goals:- Manage: "Track and Optimize Your Portfolio"
- Explore: "Discover New Exciting Stocks to Invest In"
- Analyze: "Evaluate Stocks You're Interested In"
- Manage: "Track and Optimize Your Portfolio"
- Stock Ratings
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Seeking Alpha offers three types of stock ratings to guide your analysis:
- Wall Street Ratings from Wall Street analysts
- SA Authors Ratings from Seeking Alpha authors
- Quant Ratings based on quantitative objective data
The SA Authors Ratings tell you whether the investors and analysts in the community are leaning more toward buying, holding, or selling a particular stock.Aside from expert and analyst opinions, you can use Quant rating, too. This is best if you prefer to assess the statistics.
- Wall Street Ratings from Wall Street analysts
- Quant Rating and Factor Grades
Seeking Alpha's Quant Rating compares competing stocks in terms of value, growth, profitability, momentum, and earnings per share revisions. Stocks are graded based on Factor Grades to determine their Quant rating.![]()
If the stock has a high Quant rating (the highest is 5), then it's most likely a great choice to buy that stock. You also get an alert once your stocks' ratings change.
You can also choose a stocks or funds category with Predefined Comparisons. These categories include, but are not limited to:- FAANG Stocks: Comparison of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google
- Big Bank Stocks: Comparison of the top U.S. banks
- Cash Equivalents: Comparison of ETFs
- FAANG Stocks: Comparison of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google
- Top-Rated Stocks and Stocks Screeners
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The top-rated stocks is a list of stocks with the highest SA Authors rating, Wall Street Analysts rating, and Quant rating. You would want to buy and hold these stocks for the long term.
There are top-rated stocks in various categories. With screeners, you get to screen stocks according to its quant ratings, profitability, or industry.
- Top Analysts to Follow
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The 'Top Analysts to Follow' feature allows you to filter authors by style or sector. This tells you who the star contributors are.
- Author Performance Metrics
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The Author Performance Metrics gives you an idea about the credibility of each author.
You get to know the author's thoughts on a specific stock and the stock's performance since the day of the article's publication.
This tells you whether the author's recommendation (buy, sell, or hold the stock) has proven to be correct so far.
- Community and Content
Seeking Alpha's community offers investing ideas for stocks, ETFs, precious metals, and even currencies.You also get access to each company's earning calls transcripts, earning forecasts, and financial statements for the past decade. These data help you analyze the profitability of each stock.
Seeking Alpha's content are crowdsourced. That means the analysis and articles in the platform are written by the users.
If you subscribe to its Premium plan, you can also contribute platform content. Though this will not be easy as the article will have to pass Seeking Alpha's editorial review to ensure quality.
Yes, you can also make money by being a contributor. Seeking Alpha pays $45 for every published article on under-covered stocks.
Key Features Of Seeking Alpha Pro
Not satisfied with the Premium features? Consider the Pro plan. Seeking Alpha Pro is touted as a profit accelerator for investors with a large portfolio. It has all the features of the Premium plan with these advanced add-ons.
- Top Ideas
You get exclusive access to the platform's most well-researched and high-conviction investment ideas. - Exclusive Newsletters
You get exclusive access to newsletters with interviews and money-making opportunities. - VIP Customer Service
You get personalized support through email or phone. - Pro Screener
You get to filter the noise or irrelevant articles in the platform. This allows you to quickly see articles written by Pro authors or investment experts. - 100% Free Ads
The Premium plan has a few ads. The Pro plan has no ads at all. This helps you to focus on what matters.
What Is Free On Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha's Basic plan offers limited access to content, news, and analysis. Nevertheless, it gives you free unlimited access to headlines and article summaries. You also get free access to the following:
- Education Section
You can access educational articles that can help you understand the investment landscape. Some articles include an explanation of bearish and bullish markets, inflation, and portfolio management, among many others. - Portfolio Health Check
This allows you to see whether your investment portfolio is at risk or not. It also reveals the quality and performance of your stocks.What is your risk appetite for stock investment? - Wall Street Stock Ratings
This tells you the sentiment of Wall Street analysts for each stock. A stock receives a high rating if Wall Street analysts recommend a Strong Buy for that stock. - Stock Prices and Charts
You can freely access stock prices and charts on stock performances for the past years. - Email Alert and News Updates
You get news updates that may affect your portfolio. This is sent directly to your email. - Mobile App
This gives you easy access to the free content, anytime anywhere.
Seeking Alpha's Alpha Picks
The Alpha Picks is the newest subscription offering of Seeking Alpha. This plan was launched in July 2022.
With this, you get two stock recommendations each month. These are stock picks with the highest rating, chosen from the thousands of stocks available in the platform.
These two highest-rated stocks are chosen using Seeking Alpha's data-driven quant system. This system analyzes stocks according to their profitability, valuation, growth, and earnings-per-share estimates.
Alpha Picks costs $99/year on your first year of subscription, then $199/yr on the succeeding years.
How Does Seeking Alpha Compare?
Morningstar Investor and Motley Fool Stock Advisor are some alternatives to Seeking Alpha.
- Seeking Alpha Premium vs Morningstar Investor
Morningstar caters best to fund investors and active traders. Its rating system is primarily for ETFs and mutual funds, though it also has individual stocks. On the other hand, Seeking Alpha's rating system is primarily for stocks, though it also has resources on ETFs and other funds.In terms of the membership fee, Seeking Alpha Premium ($239.95/yr)[3] is cheaper than Morningstar Investor ($249/yr).[4]
- Seeking Alpha Premium vs Motley Fool Stock Advisor
Motley Fool Stock Advisor is primarily used for its stock picks. It gives you 2 top stock picks per month, along with suggestions for other timely buys.It is best for new investors who may not need too much data on a certain stock. On the contrary, Seeking Alpha is for those who need data and research.
Unlike Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha's stock analysis is more technical. It also has more depth.
In terms of price, Motley Fool Stock Advisor ($199/yr)[5] is cheaper than Seeking Alpha Premium ($239.95/yr). But they sometimes offer a discount for new members.
$79/year for Stock Advisor for New Members
$79 promotional price for new members only. $79 discount based on current list price of Stock Advisor of $199/year. Membership will renew annually at the then current list price.
Bottom Line
Seeking Alpha Premium is a valuable resource for stock investors of any level.
The stock ratings and investment research it offers can benefit beginners and advanced investors alike. It helps you choose which stocks to buy, hold, or sell.
Without knowledge and investment research, it is difficult to make profits in investing.
You need information on the intrinsic value of a stock and what the investing community thinks. These are all beneficial in forming your own investment decision.
Seeking Alpha's Premium service provides just what you need to become an informed investor.
References
- ^ Seeking Alpha. About Us
- ^ Seeking Alpha. Seeking Alpha's Quant Performance, Retrieved 4/7/23
- ^ Seeking Alpha. Subscription Plan Pricing, Retrieved 4/7/23
- ^ Morningstar. FAQ: What's the price of a subscription to Morningstar Investor?, Retrieved 4/7/23
- ^ Motley Fool. Motley Fool Premium Services, Retrieved 4/7/23
$79/year for Stock Advisor for New Members
$79 promotional price for new members only. $79 discount based on current list price of Stock Advisor of $199/year. Membership will renew annually at the then current list price.
Free Gold IRA Kit
- Up to $10,000 in free silver for eligible customers
- Highest buyback price, guaranteed
- Endorsed by Sean Hannity and Chuck Norris
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