Period 19 Review: DRD's 27% Surge Powers Magic Formula to Its First Positive Cumulative Return as Every Screen Beats a Falling Market

Period 19 covers August 15 to August 22, 2026 — a period in which both benchmarks fell, yet every one of the journal's seven screens still came out ahead of them. The S&P 500 dropped −1.43% and the NASDAQ −2.05%, reversing the modest gains of Period 18. Against that backdrop, six of seven screens closed the period outright positive, and the seventh — CANSLIM Rocket, at −1.01% — still beat both indices. The spread between best and worst screen widened slightly to 6.50 percentage points, from Period 18's 6.02, as Magic Formula's +5.49% led the field.

The period's defining move was DRD (DRDGold), which surged +26.91% and appears in two screens simultaneously — Burry Value Screen and Magic Formula — making it the largest single overlap-driven gain the journal has recorded. Combined with ERO's +16.63% inside Magic Formula's own book, the two names pushed that screen to its best single-period result of the journal and, more notably, past breakeven on a cumulative basis for the first time after eighteen consecutive periods in the red. Lunch (+3.54%) and Burry (+3.20%) posted the next-best results, followed by Quality Growth (+1.61%) and Piotroski F-Score (+0.87%). Schloss Dividend eked out a narrow +0.35% after its largest single position, GGB, fell −8.65%. CANSLIM Rocket was the lone screen in the red, weighed down by broad declines across semiconductor and energy names.

Period 19 Returns: Magic Formula Leads a Broadly Positive Field

Magic Formula led at +5.49%, more than two points clear of second-place Lunch's +3.54%. Burry Value Screen followed closely at +3.20%, a sharp reversal from its −0.45% in Period 18. Quality Growth added +1.61% and Piotroski F-Score +0.87%, both modest but positive. Schloss Dividend closed just barely in the black at +0.35%, while CANSLIM Rocket was the only screen to finish negative, at −1.01%.

Magic Formula's +5.49% was led by DRD (DRDGold), which gained +26.91%, from $24.19 to $30.70, contributing approximately +1.79 percentage points at the screen's 6.67% weight — the largest single-position contribution of the period. ERO (Ero Copper) added +16.63% (+1.11 points), DDS (Dillard's) rose +10.83% (+0.72 points), a name shared with Burry Value Screen, and CGAU (Centerra Gold) gained +10.41% (+0.69 points). OGC (Oceana Gold) added +8.43% (+0.56 points) in what becomes a new overlap position with Lunch from Period 20 onward. Against these, CENX (Century Aluminum) fell −5.99% (−0.40 points), the screen's only meaningful drag. Ten of twelve retained positions closed positive. ADMA, BLBD, and ORLA all exited at the sell fee; no new names entered, trimming Magic Formula from fifteen to twelve — its first contraction after two straight periods of growth. The result lifts Magic Formula's cumulative return to +3.74%, positive for the first time across the journal's nineteen periods, after bottoming near −12% in Period 14.

Eighteen periods underwater, then two good weeks in a row. Magic Formula's turn to positive cumulative territory didn't come from a single heroic period — it came from stacking a solid +1.35% on top of a standout +5.49%, the same kind of compounding that erases much slower than it appears to build.

Lunch's +3.54% was led by FSM (Fortuna Mining), which gained +13.12%, from $10.67 to $12.07, contributing approximately +0.94 percentage points at the screen's 7.14% weight — the same overlap position lifting Burry Value Screen and Quality Growth simultaneously. PAAS (Pan American Silver) added +11.91% (+0.85 points), reversing Period 18's −7.42% decline, and KSPI (Kaspi.kz) rose +6.94% (+0.50 points), extending its own Period 18 gain of +9.30%. CVE (Cenovus Energy) gained +6.19% (+0.44 points) and PDD (PDD Holdings) added +4.23% (+0.30 points), both rebounding from negative Period 18 results. Against these, SKWD (Skyward Specialty Insurance) fell −4.87% (−0.35 points), the screen's only meaningful drag. Twelve of thirteen retained positions closed positive. BVN exited at the sell fee, dropping out of its overlap with Magic Formula in the process; OGC and SKHY both enter the screen for Period 20, growing Lunch from fourteen to fifteen names.

Burry Value Screen's +3.20% was led by the same DRD, gaining +26.91% from $24.19 to $30.70, contributing approximately +0.66 percentage points at the screen's 2.44% weight. SSRM (SSR Mining) added +17.33% (+0.42 points) and B (Barnes Group) rose +14.42% (+0.35 points). SII (SLB) gained +13.33% (+0.33 points) and FSM added +13.12% (+0.32 points), the same overlap position lifting Lunch and Quality Growth this period. Against these, CRUS (Cirrus Logic) fell −4.76% (−0.12 points), the screen's largest drag, and MLI (Mueller Industries) declined −4.07% (−0.10 points). Twenty-nine of thirty-nine retained positions closed positive. HL and TOL both exited at the sell fee; no new names entered, trimming Burry from forty-one to thirty-nine — its first contraction after two straight periods of growth.

Quality Growth's +1.61% was led by FSM, gaining +13.12% and contributing approximately +1.19 percentage points at the screen's 9.09% weight. FICO (Fair Isaac) added +8.00% (+0.73 points), extending its Period 18 recovery, and AUPH (Aurinia Pharmaceuticals) rose +7.63% (+0.69 points), a name shared with Burry Value Screen. PAYS (Paysign) gained +6.99% (+0.64 points) and INCY (Incyte) added +6.37% (+0.58 points). Against these, RDDT (Reddit) fell −13.93% (−1.27 points), the screen's largest drag and a full reversal of Period 18's +10.14% gain, and SEZL (Sezzle) declined −7.64% (−0.70 points), giving back much of its own Period 18 recovery. SNDK (Sandisk) eased −2.74% (−0.25 points), pulling back a small fraction of Period 18's record +35.38% surge. Six of eleven retained positions closed positive. ELMD and SKHY both enter the screen for Period 20, growing Quality Growth from eleven to thirteen names.

Piotroski's +0.87% was led by IPI (Intrepid Potash), which gained +6.44%, from $36.62 to $38.98, contributing approximately +0.54 percentage points at the screen's 8.33% weight — a third straight positive period, following +2.62% in Period 17 and +5.08% in Period 18. SD (SandRidge Energy) added +2.35% (+0.20 points) and NOAH (Noah Holdings) rose +1.97% (+0.16 points). GASS (StealthGas) gained +1.80% (+0.15 points), a second straight positive period after Period 18's +10.13% rebound, and LUXE added +1.70% (+0.14 points), a name shared with CANSLIM Rocket. Against these, API (Agora) fell −6.03% (−0.50 points), the screen's largest drag and nearly offsetting IPI's gain outright. Eight of eleven retained positions closed positive, one (MOMO) was flat, and two closed negative. VFF exited at the sell fee after a single period on the screen; CYD, KE, and RLX all enter the screen for Period 20, growing Piotroski from twelve to fourteen names.

Schloss Dividend's +0.35% saw CHRD (Chord Energy) lead again, gaining +7.67%, from $137.32 to $147.85, contributing approximately +0.70 percentage points at the screen's 9.09% weight — a second straight period as the screen's top contributor. DAC (Danaos) added +5.52% (+0.50 points) and TX (Ternium) rose +3.05% (+0.28 points). Against these, GGB (Gerdau) fell −8.65% (−0.79 points), the screen's largest drag and nearly canceling out its two biggest gainers combined, and VSNT (Visionary Education Technology) declined −2.27% (−0.21 points). Seven of eleven retained positions closed positive. No names exited; AGO enters the screen for Period 20, growing Schloss from eleven to twelve names.

CANSLIM Rocket's −1.01% — the only negative result of the period — was led by AGI (Alamos Gold), which gained +13.49%, from $33.36 to $37.86, contributing approximately +0.67 percentage points at the screen's 5% weight. HALO (Halozyme Therapeutics) added +9.64% (+0.48 points), extending its Period 18 gain, and ETON (Eton Pharmaceuticals) rose +7.83% (+0.39 points) in its first full period on the screen. Against these, BE (Bloom Energy) fell −12.39% (−0.62 points), the screen's largest drag, and CLS (Celestica) declined −11.49% (−0.58 points), reversing its Period 18 recovery entirely. AVGO (Broadcom) extended its own losing streak at −6.24% (−0.31 points), a third straight negative period. Only seven of seventeen retained positions closed positive — the broadest-based decline of any screen this period. DRD, DY, and FN all exited at the sell fee; MPWR, MU, and NVDA all enter the screen for Period 20, keeping CANSLIM at twenty names.

Retention: Schloss and Quality Growth Tie for Best as Magic Formula Sheds a Fifth of Its Book

Period 19 saw Schloss Dividend and Quality Growth tie for the field's best retention at 100%, both holding every position from the prior period while still adding names on top. Magic Formula posted the period's lowest retention at 80.0%, losing three of fifteen names — even as those same twelve retained positions delivered its best return of the journal.

Quality Growth held the top spot in both periods, and Schloss Dividend jumped from fifth to a share of first after shedding zero positions for the first time in three periods. Burry Value Screen and Magic Formula both fell out of the perfect-retention tier they shared in Period 18 — Burry to a still-strong 95.1%, Magic Formula all the way to the field's worst mark. CANSLIM Rocket again posted exactly 85.0%, the second straight period at that identical figure. The spread narrowed slightly for a second consecutive period: Period 17 ranged 27.7 points, Period 18 pulled back to 21.4, and Period 19 narrows further to 20.0.

Cumulative Scoreboard: Burry Leapfrogs CANSLIM as Magic Formula Crosses Into the Black

Burry Value Screen's +3.20% lifted its cumulative return to +12.95%, passing CANSLIM Rocket to move from fourth to second place. CANSLIM's own −1.01% pulled its cumulative figure down from +12.13% to +11.00%, dropping it two spots to fourth — a mirror image of Burry's rise.

Quality Growth's +1.61% extended its cumulative lead to +33.01%, unchallenged in first place. Schloss Dividend's +0.35% nudged its own figure to +11.54% from +11.14%, holding third. Lunch's +3.54% lifted its cumulative return to +6.85% from +3.20%, and Magic Formula's +5.49% pushed its figure from −1.67% into positive territory at +3.74% — the milestone crossing described above. Piotroski's +0.87% trimmed its cumulative loss to −8.88% from −9.67%, still last place but narrowing for a second straight period.

Both benchmarks fell this period, giving the field a rare tailwind on relative performance: the S&P 500's cumulative return eased to +13.17% from +14.81%, and the NASDAQ's to +15.35% from +17.76%. Every screen's alpha improved as a result. Quality Growth's alpha against the S&P 500 widened to +5.63% from +2.11%, and against the NASDAQ it flipped positive for the first time since Period 16, moving to +3.45% from −0.84% — it remains the only screen with positive cumulative alpha against either index. Burry's alpha improved sharply to −1.42%/−3.60% from −6.53%/−9.48%, now the closest of the six trailing screens to flipping positive. The rest closed the period at −1.63%/−3.81% (Schloss), −2.17%/−4.35% (CANSLIM), −6.32%/−8.50% (Lunch), −9.43%/−11.61% (Magic Formula), and −22.05%/−24.23% (Piotroski) — all still negative against both benchmarks, but every figure narrower than a period ago.

Overlap: Two Three-Way Positions Contract as OGC and SKHY Form New Pairs

The August 22 snapshot shows thirteen stocks in two or more screens, up from twelve on August 15, even as the number of three-way overlaps fell from three to one. Two of the prior period's three-way positions each lost a holder: ADMA dropped Magic Formula after that screen exited the name, leaving it shared only between Burry Value Screen and Lunch, and DRD dropped CANSLIM Rocket after CANSLIM exited it, leaving it shared only between Burry and Magic Formula — the same DRD whose +26.91% surge was the largest overlap-driven gain of the period for both of its remaining holders. FSM's three-way overlap between Burry, Lunch, and Quality Growth held steady, and its +13.12% return was the single largest positive contributor to both Lunch and Quality Growth this period. Two new two-way pairings formed: OGC, already held by Magic Formula, was added by Lunch, and SKHY entered both Lunch and Quality Growth simultaneously as a fresh position in each. BVN dropped out of the overlap set entirely after Lunch exited it, leaving Magic Formula as its sole holder.

Of the pairs already in place going into this period, DRD's +26.91% lifted Burry and Magic Formula together — the largest shared gain of the period — and FSM's +13.12% boosted Burry, Lunch, and Quality Growth at once. AUPH's +7.63% and INCY's +6.37% both helped Burry and Quality Growth, while DDS's +10.83% and INSW's +2.55% lifted Burry and Magic Formula. ADMA's +3.91%, HRMY's +0.08%, and RELY's +1.41% all helped Burry and Lunch modestly, and PLGO's +0.84% gave a small lift to both Schloss and Lunch. LUXE's +1.70% helped both Piotroski and CANSLIM for a third consecutive period of shared exposure. Because OGC and SKHY both became overlaps through new entries rather than price moves, neither newly formed pairing affected this period's returns — that exposure carries into Period 20.

What Period 19 Tells You

A down market doesn't mean down screens. All seven equal-weighted screens beat both the S&P 500 (−1.43%) and the NASDAQ (−2.05%) this period, and six of seven still closed outright positive. Screens built from individually selected names aren't tied to cap-weighted index moves — when a handful of small and mid-cap holdings rally on their own news, the screen can rise even as the broader market falls.

A single concentrated position can move two portfolios on the same beat. DRD's +26.91% surge was the largest single-position contributor to both Burry Value Screen and Magic Formula simultaneously, a direct consequence of the overlap between their books. When two screens hold the same name, its move doesn't just affect one reported return — it ripples through every screen that holds it.

Cumulative losses can persist for a long time, then reverse in a single period. Magic Formula's cumulative return was negative in all eighteen of the journal's prior periods, bottoming near −12% in Period 14. Two strong periods back to back — +1.35%, then +5.49% — were enough to push it to +3.74%, its first period in positive territory. The reversal didn't require one dramatic week; it required two ordinary-to-strong ones in a row.

Rankings keep reordering even without extreme single-period returns. Burry's +3.20% was enough to leapfrog it from fourth to second in the cumulative standings, while CANSLIM Rocket's mild −1.01% dropped it from second to fourth — a two-spot swing in each direction driven by returns under four percentage points apart. With seven screens clustered closely on a cumulative basis, small weekly differences keep translating into visible rank changes.