PNC — the engine's Play of the Day, fully scored
On Thursday, October 22, 2026, PNC scored in the 98.3th percentile of Wall Street Analyst's 15-dimension scoring engine with a STRONG BUY signal, at $222.74 at publication, on a suggested horizon of 1–3 months. The full breakdown below is the engine's actual evidence, published the day of the call and graded in public afterward.
PNC lands in the 98th percentile on a fundamentals-led profile: an A value grade at a P/E of 11.0, 28.8% net margins, and an A+ EPS revisions grade backing eight consecutive earnings beats averaging 8.5% surprise. The engine also flags an insider cluster buy of nine distinct insiders totaling roughly $10.5M alongside Berkshire, Bridgewater, and Renaissance holdings, with analyst targets at $273 implying 24% upside against a tight dispersion.
This is a quality setup against weak price action — entry near $222.74 after a three-month slide of -11.2%, framed for a 1–3 month hold to let the fundamental and earnings-quality case get recognized. Momentum scores low (37), so patience is the premise.
A break below the recent $214–216 support zone would confirm the downtrend over the thesis, and any crack in the beat streak or a reversal in revision momentum into the January 15 earnings date would undercut the core quality argument.
The full case — all 15 dimensions
Every dimension the engine scored that day, with the actual evidence behind each number — including the ones that argue against the play. The twelve weighted dimensions come first; anything marked a supporting input is scored and shown, but reaches the composite through a capped confirmation bonus rather than a weighted share.
- Strong beat streak (8 consecutive quarters)
- Positive revision momentum (+0.15)
- Large average earnings surprise (+8.5%)
- Growing EPS estimates quarter-over-quarter
- Attractive P/E (11.0)
- Strong growth (46%)
- Excellent margins (28.8%)
- Analyst target $273 vs $219.41 at scoring time (+24% implied)
- Tight target dispersion (high conviction)
- Quant Grade: B+ (73/100)
- Value: A
- Growth: B+
- Profitability: B
- Momentum: D+
- Eps Revisions: A+
- Deep value P/E 11.0
- Revenue +72% (explosive)
- High net margin 29%
- MACD bullish crossover
- Price above key moving averages
- Strong positive news sentiment (0.18)
- Strong analyst buy consensus (73%)
- Insider selling activity (1 sells)
- Held by Berkshire Hathaway (Buffett), Bridgewater Associates (Dalio), Renaissance Technologies (Simons)
- High insider filing activity (20 Form 4s in 30d)
- Reddit mentions via ApeWisdom: 0 in 24h (vs 0 the day before; per-post sentiment n/a)
- StockTwits neutral
- Moderate social media volume (30 total messages)
- Ticker is trending on StockTwits
- Partial coverage: scored on 50% of social sources (confidence scaled accordingly)
- Very bullish put/call ratio (0.43)
- Unusual CALL activity (2 flags)
- 8Q consecutive earnings beats (avg 8.5% surprise)
- Earnings surprises decelerating
- Insider cluster BUY (cluster feed, 1d window): 8 insiders, $10,501,740
- Weak 3-month momentum (-11.2%)
- 8 consecutive earnings beats
- avg surprise +8.5%
- EPS trending up
- Scope: OpenInsider Form 4 filings, last 90 days. Starts from a neutral 50 baseline; drivers below adjust it
- 3 C-suite buy(s) totaling $1,137,905 (+25 pts)
- Cluster buy: 9 distinct insiders bought (+20 pts)
- 3 purchase(s) increased ownership by >20% (+15 pts)
- 1 buy(s) >= $500K (total $1,004,639) (+5 pts)
- 15 distinct insiders selling (-20 pts)
- 58 C-suite sell(s) (-20 pts)
A brief like this is generated from the engine's output every trading day. Today's Play is free — get it on the Play of the Day page or read how the 15 dimensions work.
The Play of the Day is the output of a quantitative scoring model, published for educational and informational purposes — it is not personalized investment advice, and Wall Street Analyst is not a registered investment advisor. Markets carry risk; past results don't guarantee future ones. Every decision is yours.