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Equity research primers, Buy/Watch/Pass verdicts, Rule of 40 quality scorecards, 1-year lagged R&D capital return grades, and interactive Reverse-DCF valuation models across 250 software companies.

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R&D Return 2×2

x = R&D % of revenue (FY) · y = new gross profit per R&D dollar (FY)

MSFT: Harvester, AA

Hover or tap a dot to inspect peer R&D intensity and return

R&D intensityModerate 10.72%p20TTM

How this is calculated

How R&D intensity is graded

Intensity = R&D ÷ revenue from the same period. The grade uses TTM when that period end is fresh; otherwise the latest fiscal year if that end is fresh; otherwise the name is ungraded. Bands describe spend level, not quality.

Freshness is form-aware: quarterly filers 120 days; annual-only 20-F/40-F 15 months past FY end.
Very High ≥ 30% · High 20–30% · Moderate 10–20% · Low 5–10% · Very Low under 5%.
Peer percentile sits next to the band for context. It is not the grade.
Missing R&D or revenue: ungraded. Negative R&D: data flag. Over 100%: Very High, manual review.

As of 2026-10-17.

MSFTMicrosoft Corporation

Report Model MSFT

BuyGrade AAHarvesterPeriod: 2026-06-30

R&D Intensity

10.72%

TTM: 10.72%

R&D Return

$0.97

Per $1 prior R&D

Rank

#25

85th pct

Reported Financial Inputs (USD)

Rule of 40: 40.7%

Revenue (FY):$331.84B

R&D (FY):$35.56B

Gross Profit (FY):$225.47B

GP (Prior FY):$193.89B

R&D (Prior FY):$32.49B

Cap. Software:—

Compare Peer:

What-If:

Flags:missing_capitalized_software

The Four Empirical R&D Quadrants

Software R&D Return Leaderboard (250)

Tap any company row to highlight it on the 2×2 chart above, or open its interactive DCF model.

Scroll table horizontally for full R&D metricsSwipe →

Rank↑	Ticker	Verdict	Quadrant	Grade	Intensity (FY)	Intensity (TTM)	R&D Return	Revenue (FY)	R&D (FY)	Flags	Action
#1	DLO DLocal Limited	Buy	Harvesters	AAA	2.81%	—	$4.22	$1.09B	$30.7M	—	Research Model
#2	AIOT PowerFleet, Inc.	Pass	Harvesters	AAA	4.14%	3.97%	$3.23	$443.8M	$18.4M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#3	PLTR Palantir Technologies Inc.	Watch	Harvesters	AAA	12.46%	10.42%	$2.73	$4.48B	$557.7M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#4	GEN Gen Digital Inc.	Watch	Harvesters	AAA	8.18%	8.23%	$2.32	$5.00B	$409.0M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#5	GRND Grindr Inc.	Watch	Harvesters	AAA	11.12%	12.15%	$2.14	$439.9M	$48.9M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#6	ZETA Zeta Global Holdings Corp.	Watch	Harvesters	AAA	8.98%	9.36%	$2.04	$1.30B	$117.2M	—	Research Model
#7	NYAX Nayax Ltd.	Buy	Harvesters	AAA	7.48%	—	$2.03	$400.4M	$30.0M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#8	MNTN MNTN, Inc.	Buy	Harvesters	AAA	16.97%	19.11%	$1.91	$290.1M	$49.2M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#9	APPS Digital Turbine, Inc.	Pass	Harvesters	AAA	7.16%	6.82%	$1.68	$565.3M	$40.5M	—	Research Model
#10	FICO Fair Isaac Corporation	Watch	Harvesters	AAA	9.46%	8.71%	$1.56	$1.99B	$188.3M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#11	CHYM Chime Financial, Inc.	Watch	Compounders	AAA	42.75%	18.61%	$1.48	$2.19B	$934.9M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#12	SPSC SPS COMMERCE INC	Buy	Harvesters	AAA	9.14%	8.91%	$1.48	$751.5M	$68.7M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#13	PGY Pagaya Technologies Ltd.	Watch	Harvesters	AAA	5.96%	5.33%	$1.37	$1.26B	$75.2M	—	Research Model
#14	AVPT AvePoint, Inc.	Buy	Harvesters	AAA	12.54%	12.28%	$1.29	$419.5M	$52.6M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#15	TYL TYLER TECHNOLOGIES INC	Watch	Harvesters	AAA	8.77%	9.40%	$1.25	$2.33B	$204.6M	—	Research Model
#16	TOST Toast, Inc.	Buy	Harvesters	AAA	6.08%	5.95%	$1.15	$6.15B	$374.0M	—	Research Model
#17	PRGS Progress Software Corporation	Watch	Harvesters	AA	19.66%	19.53%	$1.14	$977.8M	$192.3M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#18	PAY Paymentus Holdings, Inc.	Buy	Harvesters	AA	5.14%	4.62%	$1.13	$1.20B	$61.5M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#19	NAVN Navan, Inc.	Pass	Compounders	AA	21.54%	20.96%	$1.09	$702.3M	$151.2M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#20	MNDY monday.com Ltd.	Watch	Compounders	AA	26.04%	—	$1.08	$1.23B	$320.8M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#21	UBER Uber Technologies, Inc	Watch	Harvesters	AA	6.54%	6.77%	$1.08	$52.02B	$3.40B	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#22	PTC PTC INC.	Watch	Harvesters	AA	16.71%	16.06%	$1.02	$2.74B	$457.7M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#23	CVLT Commvault Systems, Inc.	Watch	Harvesters	AA	13.70%	13.30%	$0.98	$1.18B	$162.2M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#24	VRSN VeriSign, Inc.	Buy	Harvesters	AA	6.25%	6.26%	$0.98	$1.66B	$103.6M	—	Research Model
#25	MSFT Microsoft Corporation	Buy	Harvesters	AA	10.72%	10.72%	$0.97	$331.84B	$35.56B	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#26	IOT Samsara Inc.	Watch	Compounders	AA	21.29%	20.34%	$0.97	$1.62B	$344.6M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#27	FTNT Fortinet, Inc.	Buy	Harvesters	AA	11.99%	11.24%	$0.94	$6.80B	$815.5M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#28	LIF Life360, Inc.	Watch	Compounders	AA	26.23%	26.62%	$0.90	$489.5M	$128.4M	—	Research Model
#29	DUOL Duolingo, Inc.	Watch	Compounders	AA	29.52%	29.47%	$0.87	$1.04B	$306.3M	—	Research Model
#30	KVYO Klaviyo, Inc.	Watch	Compounders	AA	23.60%	23.13%	$0.86	$1.23B	$291.2M	—	Research Model
#31	VERX Vertex, Inc.	Watch	Harvesters	AA	11.19%	11.63%	$0.83	$748.4M	$83.7M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#32	RBRK Rubrik, Inc.	Pass	Compounders	AA	28.39%	28.59%	$0.82	$1.32B	$373.7M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#33	SAIL SailPoint, Inc.	Watch	Compounders	AA	20.81%	19.86%	$0.79	$1.07B	$223.0M	—	Research Model
#34	ROP ROPER TECHNOLOGIES INC	Buy	Harvesters	A	10.79%	—	$0.79	$7.90B	$852.5M	—	Research Model
#35	SHOP SHOPIFY INC.	Buy	Harvesters	A	13.29%	12.41%	$0.79	$11.56B	$1.54B	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#36	ZS Zscaler, Inc.	Watch	Compounders	A	26.95%	26.95%	$0.77	$3.35B	$903.4M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#37	PAR PAR TECHNOLOGY CORP	Pass	Harvesters	A	17.95%	17.23%	$0.77	$455.5M	$81.8M	—	Research Model
#38	NET Cloudflare	Pass	Compounders	A	23.64%	22.82%	$0.77	$2.17B	$512.5M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#39	WLTH Wealthfront Corporation	Buy	Compounders	A	58.20%	64.22%	$0.76	$365.0M	$212.4M	—	Research Model
#40	GOOG Alphabet	Watch	Harvesters	A	15.16%	15.47%	$0.74	$402.84B	$61.09B	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#41	ADP Automatic Data Processing, Inc.	Watch	Harvesters	A	4.69%	4.69%	$0.73	$21.95B	$1.03B	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#42	PEGA Pegasystems Inc.	Watch	Harvesters	A	17.91%	18.76%	$0.73	$1.75B	$312.7M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#43	DSGX The Descartes Systems Group Inc.	Buy	Harvesters	A	14.45%	—	$0.73	$729.0M	$105.3M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#44	XNET Xunlei Ltd	Watch	Harvesters	A	17.38%	—	$0.70	$460.4M	$80.0M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#45	DT Dynatrace, Inc.	Watch	Compounders	A	23.50%	23.96%	$0.70	$2.02B	$474.3M	—	Research Model
#46	GRAB Grab Holdings Limited	Watch	Harvesters	A	12.70%	—	$0.69	$3.37B	$428.0M	—	Research Model
#47	ADSK Autodesk, Inc.	Watch	Compounders	A	22.80%	22.09%	$0.68	$7.21B	$1.64B	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#48	GTLB GitLab Inc.	Watch	Compounders	A	28.74%	28.82%	$0.67	$955.2M	$274.6M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#49	WK Workiva Inc.	Pass	Compounders	A	24.29%	22.43%	$0.66	$884.6M	$214.8M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model
#50	GWRE Guidewire Software, Inc.	Watch	Compounders	A	23.05%	23.05%	$0.66	$1.48B	$340.1M	missing_capitalized_software	Research Model

Showing 1–50 of 250 companies

Page 1 of 5

Institutional Scoring Methodology

1. Exact Formulas (Fundamentals Only)

Every score is derived strictly from annual and trailing-twelve-month reported financial statements. Stock prices and valuation multiples are never used.

R&D Intensity (FY) = R&D (FY) / Revenue (FY)

R&D Intensity (TTM) = R&D (TTM) / Revenue (TTM)

R&D Return (FY) = (Gross Profit FY − Gross Profit Prior FY) / R&D Prior FY

2. Empirical Medians & AAA–D Letter Grades

Quadrant cut-offs are never hard-coded constants—they are computed dynamically from the medians of the ranked universe (20.14% intensity, $0.46 return). Letter grades map 10-point percentile bands of R&D return among ranked names:

AAA≥90%AA≥80%A≥70%BBB≥60%BB≥50%B≥40%CCC≥30%CC≥20%C≥10%D≥0%

Strict Data Hygiene — Never Invented

The rated universe has no ungraded names. Prior-year R&D under $10M stays in the table with R&D marked below R&D floor and a fundamentals Buy/Watch/Pass grade. Stale filings (quarterly > 120 days; annual-only 20-F/40-F > 15 months past FY end) stay, graded on the latest filing, with a data-as-of / stale label. Gross profit with no cost-of-revenue line is marked not reported, not excluded. Names leave only when they cannot produce a clean statement or fail the $50M revenue floor. Medians, ranks, and AAA–D bands use only the ranked set. No input is invented.

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