A score is only worth reading if a stranger can rebuild it. This paper publishes everything needed to do that for the First Look Score, method v2: the eight questions it asks, the five factors that answer each one, the rubric every factor is rated against, how points are weighted and summed to 100, how the evidence behind each pillar is graded A, B or C, which eight conditions are always flagged whatever the number, and the rules that keep a score on the public record once published.
It replaces method v1 of 2026-10-24, which had five measures and under which no score was ever published. It closes with a preliminary worked example on Vuzix built from the FY2025 10-K, the 2026 10-Qs and proxy, so that every rule in the paper can be checked against a real company.
A score measures a company against this method. It is not a rating of any security, a price target, or a recommendation, and it is never for sale.
- Eight pillars, 100 points: SI and AR readiness 16, business quality 14, liquidity and runway 12, capital structure and dilution 12, governance and disclosure 12, market and position 12, momentum and attention 10, investor access and IR quality 12.
- Forty factors, each rated 0 to 4 against one rubric, each cited to its source. A pillar's points are split equally across its five factors, so any reader can recompute the score from the ledger.
- A confidence grade (A primary, B mixed, C thin) describes the evidence, never the company: a high score with confidence C tells the reader exactly how much to trust it.
- Eight red flags are listed whenever present and never move the number: going-concern language, a reverse split, ineffective controls, a customer above 50%, under twelve months of cash, a negative gross margin, a listing deficiency, adverse financing terms.
- Two thresholds, reviewed after the first 25 scores: at 50 or more a company may buy labeled IR at published prices; at 60 or more it may apply to Timebroker.ai, a related party, for a private evaluation. Paying for either never changes a score.
- Every official score is dated, versioned, hashed and timestamped with OpenTimestamps; a changed score is a new entry and the old one stays. No company sees its score before publication; factual corrections are the only input a company has.
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Sources
- First Look Score method v2 (this page's data file), First Look Equities · 2026-10-30
- Vuzix Form 10-K for FY2025 · 2026-03-12
- Vuzix Form 10-Q, quarter ended 30 June 2026 · 2026-08-13
- Vuzix DEF 14A proxy statement · 2026-04-28
- OpenTimestamps: scalable, trust-minimized, distributed timestamping with Bitcoin · 2026
- IDC: Smart glasses surge, the XR market is rewriting its own rules · 2026-06-15
Disclosures
Positions: none. As of 29 October 2026, neither First Look Equities, its founder, AIEDGE Holdings, Inc. nor Luxury Marine Life holds shares, options or any other interest in Vuzix or in any company on our lists.
Timebroker.ai and AIEDGE Holdings, Inc. are related parties under common control with First Look Equities. Neither sees a score before publication, and nothing either learns in private work reaches our research.
A First Look Score measures a company against this published method. It is not a rating of any security, a price target or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold anything, and it is not advice tailored to any reader. First Look Equities is not a broker-dealer or a registered investment adviser.
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