Flags, Strugglers, Sparks, and Leaders
Mapping companies by stability and media score.
Executive summary
Understanding a company requires more than a single financial indicator or a snapshot of its media reputation. Financial risk and external perception each reveal part of the picture, but important signals can be missed when they are assessed separately.
This report introduces a new analytical matrix that combines stability scores, which assess the likelihood of failure, with media scores, which reflect a company's reputation based on news coverage. Together, they provide a clearer view of a company's current position, underlying risks, and emerging opportunities.
Key findings: four company profiles
Stability is derived from the probability of default and reflects how unlikely a company is to fail within the next 12 months, while media signals help detect reputational or market shifts at an earlier stage.
Key insight
The predictive power lies in the discrepancy between media and financial data. The greatest predictive value lies not in the extremes, but in the discrepancies: negative media coverage of financially strong companies can indicate an early warning signal, while positive media coverage of financially weak companies can be an initial indication of recovery, often before it appears in financial reporting.
Real company examples from the report
Scores as of the report's June 2026 publication dateGalapagos
Flag19/20
5.0/10
Biotalys
Struggler6/20
5.5/10
Option
Spark6/20
8.4/10
Spadel
Leader19/20
8.8/10
Who benefits from the matrix
Credit & risk managers
Combine financial stability with media reputation to decide where to limit exposure and where to extend confidence.
Business relationship & partnership managers
Identify companies that combine strong fundamentals with positive reputation, well suited for long-term partnerships.
Procurement & supplier risk teams
See past negative headlines to judge whether a supplier's underlying financials still hold up.
Business development & deal teams
Spot companies where the media already senses momentum that has not yet shown up in the financials.
Corporate communications & reputation teams
Understand how a company's media reputation compares with its financial position, not just recent coverage.
All stakeholders
Support anyone assessing a counterparty, partner or portfolio company where financial and reputational signals should be read together.
How professionals receive this information
Weekly Media Reports
A structured weekly report surfacing the most relevant news and Media Score movements per company in your watchlist.
Data file
Media Score delivered as a continuous daily score per company, ready to combine directly with your own financial or stability scores.
REST API
Media Scores are also available via a REST API, so you can pull the data directly into your own systems.
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