📂 MONDAY – Pricing Power Durability Screener: “Who Can Still Raise Without Losing the Customer?”

Markets are closed today for Labor Day.

That makes it a perfect research day.

Pricing power has been one of the most abused phrases of the last few years. A company raising prices does not automatically mean it has pricing power. Sometimes customers simply haven’t left yet.

Today’s Intel Drop looks for companies that have raised prices, maintained demand, preserved margins, and still appear capable of protecting economics if inflation stays stubborn.

Use this to find real pricing power, not management talking points.

💡PROMPT TEXT:

(copy & paste the below text into your preferred AI model: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Meta, etc.)

You are a senior buy-side analyst running a “Pricing Power Durability” screen as of September 7, 2026.

GOAL:

Identify 12–20 U.S.-listed companies with evidence that pricing power remains durable even if input costs, wages, freight, energy, or tariffs remain elevated.

Do NOT screen simply for companies that have raised prices.

The strongest candidates must show that customers continue to buy despite higher prices.

Use the latest available:

- Earnings releases
- Earnings transcripts
- 10-Q and 10-K filings
- Pricing commentary
- Unit volume
- Customer retention
- Market share
- Gross margin
- Promotions
- Commodity and freight data
- Wage trends
- Analyst estimates

STEP 1 — DEFINE PRICING POWER

For every candidate identify:

- What product or service is being repriced
- Frequency of repricing
- Contractual vs discretionary pricing
- Switching costs
- Customer alternatives
- Market share
- Brand strength

Classify pricing power:

- Structural
- Cyclical
- Temporary
- Weak

STEP 2 — TEST CUSTOMER ELASTICITY

Review:

- Unit volume
- Transactions
- Customer count
- Churn
- Same-store sales
- Retention
- Usage

Determine whether higher pricing has caused:

- No meaningful volume loss
- Mild volume pressure
- Significant volume pressure
- Severe demand destruction

STEP 3 — TEST MARGIN TRANSMISSION

Determine whether pricing is actually reaching:

- Gross margin
- Operating margin
- Free cash flow

Separate price realization from:

- Mix
- Cost cuts
- Buybacks
- One-time benefits

STEP 4 — ANALYZE CURRENT COST PRESSURE

Map exposure to:

- Labor
- Energy
- Freight
- Commodities
- Tariffs
- Packaging
- Components
- Rent

Determine whether the company can still offset cost pressure.

STEP 5 — CHECK PROMOTIONAL INTENSITY

Look for:

- More discounting
- Coupons
- Incentives
- Bundling
- Channel rebates
- Customer acquisition offers

Flag companies where headline pricing is being undermined by hidden promotions.

STEP 6 — CHECK CONSENSUS AWARENESS

Compare:

- Margin expectations
- Recent estimate revisions
- Valuation
- Stock performance
- Peer expectations

Classify the thesis:

- Underappreciated
- Partially priced
- Fully priced

STEP 7 — SCORE EACH COMPANY

Assign:

- Pricing Power: 1–5
- Volume Resilience: 1–5
- Margin Protection: 1–5
- Brand / Switching Cost Strength: 1–5
- Cost Pass-Through Ability: 1–5
- Consensus Blind Spot: 1–5
- Valuation Support: 1–5

Calculate:

OVERALL PRICING POWER SCORE: 1–10

BUILD THE PRICING POWER TABLE:

- Ticker
- Company
- Sector
- Pricing Mechanism
- Volume Trend
- Margin Trend
- Cost Exposure
- Promotional Risk
- Consensus Awareness
- Next Catalyst
- Pricing Power Score
- Primary Invalidation Risk

THEN IDENTIFY:

1. Five strongest pricing-power businesses
2. Three companies where price increases are masking weak demand
3. Three businesses with structural pricing advantages
4. Two sectors where pricing power appears to be weakening fastest
5. Two overlooked companies with improving price/cost economics

Clearly separate reported facts, estimates, and inference.

Never invent pricing, volume, or margin data.

Output in a clean table + 3–5 sentence explanation why this matters right now.

END PROMPT

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