Academy · Understanding the Engine
Data Refresh vs. Valuation Revision: Boundary and Triggers
When price/EPS change, most of the time you only need a "data refresh"; only when evidence changes a long-term assumption does it escalate to a "valuation revision."
Once you have a Locked Card, there are two modes for maintaining it: Data Refresh and valuation revision (Revision). Distinguishing the two is the key to using this site well and avoiding "assumption drift."
Data Refresh: Update Facts Only, Leave Assumptions Alone
When only the price has changed, or you have obtained new same-basis EPS, a "data refresh" is all you need: it recomputes the current Forward P/E, IRR, Return Spread, and so on, but leaves the locked long-term assumptions (scenario probabilities, terminal multiples, the thesis, Required Return) untouched. A refresh is not a re-valuation—it answers "without changing the long-term judgment, what have the current odds become."
Valuation Revision: Evidence Has Changed the Long-Term Judgment
Only when new evidence emerges—a material earnings shift, a guidance cut, a regulatory ruling, an abrupt change in the competitive landscape, a strengthening or weakening of the moat—that is enough to change terminal EPS, the terminal multiple, scenario probabilities, or the thesis, does it escalate to a "valuation revision," producing a new version of the card along with a "revision change ledger" (four tables: trigger evidence, assumption changes, output changes, and adoption record).
“Use a refresh for day-to-day fluctuations, and revise only when the long-term judgment has changed—do not let one quarter's earnings overturn the entire thesis.”— Institutional Research Principle
The Engine Stands Guard for You
A key discipline: if, during a data refresh, the engine finds through an "external evidence review" that a locked field may already have changed, it stops the refresh and prompts you to escalate to a valuation revision. In other words, you cannot quietly change a long-term assumption during an ordinary refresh—this is precisely the guardrail that keeps valuation from drifting with emotion.
How It Shows Up in the Product
This is what the two actions—data refresh and valuation revision—mean in "My Cards": the former is high-frequency, lightweight, and keeps the discipline; the latter is low-frequency, serious, and leaves an auditable trail. Together, they let your research on a stock stay continuously updated without losing its consistency. This also echoes "Earnings Season"—most earnings reports need only a refresh, and only a few trigger a revision.
A data refresh only updates the current facts and preserves the locked assumptions; when evidence shakes a long-term assumption, the engine halts the refresh and escalates to a valuation revision.
Put the discipline to work—let the engine produce an auditable, institutional-grade valuation of a US stock.
Run a free valuation →Continue reading
This article is educational content presenting publicly available investment ideas and methods. It does not constitute investment advice, nor an offer or solicitation for any security. Investing carries risk, and all decisions are your own responsibility.