IntraAlpha Glossary

# IntraAlpha Glossary

A reference for the concepts, ratings, and metrics used across the IntraAlpha surface.

The IntraAlpha Philosophy

IntraAlpha is a portfolio analysis framework that evaluates public equities through two primary lenses: the durability of a company's competitive advantages (its "moat") and the defensibility of its real-world physical assets. The thesis is that companies possessing both deep moats and substantial physical infrastructure are more resilient, harder to replicate, and better positioned for long-term compounding. The framework intentionally favors tangible, hard-to-reproduce advantages over purely financial or narrative-driven ones.

Tier System

Holdings are classified into four tiers based on the combined strength of their moat and physical asset profile. Tier placement reflects a qualitative judgment — not a price target or buy/sell recommendation.

Tier 1: Widest Moats + Strongest Physical Assets The portfolio's highest-conviction holdings. These companies possess moats that are exceptionally difficult to replicate and own or operate physical infrastructure that would take years and billions of dollars to reproduce. Examples include monopoly-grade satellite constellations, uranium enrichment facilities, and semiconductor lithography platforms.

Tier 2: Strong Moats + Solid Physical Assets Companies with clearly defensible competitive positions and meaningful physical asset bases. The moat may not be the absolute widest, or the physical footprint may still be scaling, but the combination is strong. Many Tier 2 holdings are on a trajectory toward Tier 1 as they execute.

Tier 3: Moderate Moats / Emerging Physical Assets Companies where either the moat is still forming or the physical asset base is early-stage. These may be high-growth companies with promising positioning but unproven durability, or established businesses with moderate competitive advantages. Higher uncertainty, but potentially high reward.

Tier 4: Narrow/Minimal Moats Holdings with limited or no sustainable competitive advantages. These may be speculative positions, commodity-like businesses, or companies where the moat thesis hasn't materialized. Included in the portfolio for tactical reasons but not considered core positions.

Moat Ratings

The moat rating assesses the strength and durability of a company's competitive advantages — the structural barriers that protect it from competition.

Widest in the Portfolio A singular designation for the company judged to have the single most defensible competitive position across all holdings. Typically involves assets or data that are literally irreplicable.

Wide An extremely strong moat that would require massive capital, years of effort, and possibly regulatory approval to replicate. Competitors face structural barriers that are unlikely to erode in the near term.

Strong & Widening A moat that is already strong and is actively becoming more defensible over time — through network effects, data accumulation, regulatory entrenchment, or scaling infrastructure. The trajectory matters as much as the current state.

Strong A clearly defensible competitive position with meaningful barriers to entry. The company has advantages that competitors cannot easily overcome, though the moat may not be expanding.

Moderate-to-Strong A solid competitive position that falls between moderate and strong. The company has real advantages but may face some vulnerability to well-capitalized competitors or technological disruption.

Moderate-to-Strong (Regulatory) Same as above, but the moat is primarily or significantly derived from regulatory barriers — licenses, permits, government contracts, or compliance requirements that limit competition.

Moderate A meaningful but not dominant competitive position. The company has some defensibility, but the barriers to entry are surmountable by determined competitors with sufficient capital and time.

Emerging A moat that is in the early stages of formation. The company is building competitive advantages but they are not yet proven or durable. High potential but high uncertainty.

Narrow A thin competitive advantage that provides limited protection. The company may have some differentiation, but competitors can realistically replicate the position.

Narrow (IP-Based, Pre-Revenue) A narrow moat based primarily on intellectual property (patents, proprietary technology) in a company that has not yet generated meaningful revenue. The IP may be valuable, but commercialization risk is high.

Minimal Little to no sustainable competitive advantage. The company operates in a commoditized space or lacks meaningful differentiation from competitors.

Asset Ratings

The asset rating evaluates the quality, scarcity, and defensibility of a company's physical infrastructure, real-world assets, and tangible operational footprint.

Strongest World-class physical assets that are essentially irreplicable — either because of the cost to rebuild, regulatory barriers, geographic scarcity, or time required. These assets represent decades of accumulated investment.

Strong & Unique Substantial physical assets with characteristics that make them genuinely one-of-a-kind. Not just large, but differentiated in ways that competitors cannot match even with equivalent capital.

Strong & Growing A significant physical asset base that is actively expanding through capital investment, construction, or acquisition. The current footprint is already meaningful, and it's getting bigger.

Strong Meaningful physical infrastructure that contributes to the company's defensibility. Hard to replicate quickly, though not necessarily unique in kind.

Growing A physical asset base that is still being built out. Current assets may be modest, but there is a clear trajectory of expansion through capital deployment.

Moderate (Rapidly Expanding) A moderate current physical footprint that is scaling quickly. The pace of expansion is a distinguishing feature — the company is actively converting capital into tangible infrastructure.

Moderate (Financial) Physical assets are moderate, and the company's value proposition is more financial than physical in nature. May apply to fintech, insurance, or platform businesses where the "asset" is a balance sheet or network rather than a factory.

Moderate A reasonable physical asset base that provides some defensibility but is not a primary competitive advantage. Could be replicated with sufficient investment.

Minimal Little to no meaningful physical infrastructure. The company's value resides primarily in software, brand, talent, or other intangible assets.

SW:HW Ratio (Software : Hardware)

The SW:HW ratio is a visual and numerical representation of the balance between a company's software/intangible value and its hardware/physical asset value. It appears as a colored bar on each holding card.

SW (Software Weight) The percentage of the company's value and competitive position derived from software, algorithms, data, intellectual property, network effects, brand, and other intangible assets.

HW (Hardware Weight) The percentage of the company's value and competitive position derived from physical infrastructure, manufacturing capacity, real estate, natural resources, equipment, and other tangible assets.

Reading the Bar The bar is color-coded on a red-to-green gradient. A higher HW percentage skews the bar toward green, reflecting the IntraAlpha framework's preference for physical asset defensibility. A higher SW percentage skews toward red — not because software is bad, but because it is generally easier to replicate than physical infrastructure.

Examples:

• SW 5% / HW 95% — A nearly pure physical asset play (e.g., a uranium miner)
• SW 50% / HW 50% — Balanced between software and physical assets
• SW 95% / HW 5% — A nearly pure software/platform business

Portfolio Metrics

Portfolio Weight (Wt) The percentage of total portfolio value that a single holding represents. Calculated by combining the position's market value across all accounts (Fidelity + Wealthfront) and dividing by the total portfolio value. Weights sum to 100% across all holdings.

Return (Ret) The total unrealized gain or loss on a position, expressed as a percentage. Calculated as (current value − cost basis) / cost basis. A positive return (shown in green with a + prefix) means the position has appreciated. A negative return (shown in red) means it has declined.

Cost Basis The original purchase price of a position, including any commissions or fees. Used to calculate unrealized gains and losses. For positions acquired over time through multiple purchases, this reflects the average cost per share.

Current Value The present market value of a position, calculated as quantity × last price. This is the amount the position would be worth if sold at the current market price.

Holdings Analyzed The count of holdings (out of total) that have received full qualitative analysis — moat assessment, physical asset evaluation, growth story, and tier placement. Holdings not yet analyzed appear in the "Remaining Holdings — Analysis Pending" section with a "New — Analysis TBD" badge.

Card Sections

Each analyzed holding card contains several sections of qualitative analysis:

Moat Analysis A written assessment of the company's competitive advantages, barriers to entry, and structural defensibility. Evaluates factors like network effects, switching costs, regulatory advantages, scale economies, brand strength, intellectual property, and data moats.

Physical Assets A written assessment of the company's tangible infrastructure — manufacturing facilities, real estate, mineral reserves, satellite constellations, data centers, launch pads, power plants, and other real-world assets. Evaluates the scarcity, cost-to-replicate, and strategic importance of the physical footprint.

Primary Assets (Summary Card) A condensed one-line summary of the company's most important physical assets, shown in the accordion summary view.

Growth Story (Summary Card) A condensed one-line summary of the company's key growth catalysts, upcoming milestones, and expansion trajectory.

Verdict A concluding statement synthesizing the moat and physical asset analysis into a holistic assessment. Often includes the key risk factors and the conditions under which the thesis could strengthen or break down.

Badges

Badges are color-coded labels that appear on holding cards to provide at-a-glance classification.

Moat Badge Displays the moat rating (e.g., "Moat: Strong & Widening"). Color corresponds to the tier — green for strong moats, yellow/orange for moderate, red for narrow/minimal.

Asset Badge Displays the physical asset rating (e.g., "Assets: Strong & Growing"). Same color scheme as moat badges.

New — Analysis TBD Indicates a holding that has been identified in the portfolio but has not yet received qualitative analysis. These appear in the "Remaining Holdings" section and are sorted by portfolio weight.

Dashboard Navigation

Summary Tables Tab Displays holdings organized by tier in accordion-style cards. Each card can be expanded to reveal growth story and primary asset summaries. Cards within each tier are sorted by portfolio weight in descending order.

All Holdings Tab Displays every holding in the portfolio as individual cards with full analysis. Includes a search bar for filtering by ticker or company name. Analyzed holdings appear first (sorted by weight), followed by the TBD section.

Remaining Holdings — Analysis Pending A section at the bottom of the All Holdings tab containing positions that have not yet been analyzed. These are sorted by portfolio weight descending, so the most significant unanalyzed positions appear first.

General Investment Terms

Portfolio A collection of financial assets (stocks, bonds, ETFs, etc.) held by an investor. The IntraAlpha model portfolio is concentrated in individual equities, primarily in technology, defense, energy, and space sectors.

Equity / Stock An ownership share in a publicly traded company. Each holding in the portfolio represents an equity position.

ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) A pooled investment vehicle that trades on a stock exchange. While "IntraAlpha ETF" uses the ETF framing as a conceptual model, it is a portfolio-analysis framework — not a registered fund.

Position A specific holding of a particular security. A position is defined by the ticker symbol, quantity of shares, and account(s) in which it is held.

Ticker Symbol A short alphanumeric code used to identify a publicly traded company on a stock exchange (e.g., LUNR for Intuitive Machines, RKLB for Rocket Lab).

Market Value The current worth of a position at today's market price, calculated as shares held × price per share.

Unrealized Gain/Loss The paper profit or loss on a position that has not yet been sold. "Unrealized" because it only becomes real (realized) when the position is closed.

Diversification The practice of spreading investments across different companies, sectors, and asset types to reduce risk. The IntraAlpha model portfolio is deliberately concentrated rather than broadly diversified — a philosophical choice reflecting high-conviction positioning.

This glossary reflects the IntraAlpha analysis framework as of February 2026. All assessments are qualitative and subjective. This is not investment advice.