Ranking Stocks in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ-100 Using an Entropy-Weighted TOPSIS Method

Authors

• Hyeseong Oh '27, DePauw University

Files

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Fall 10-1-2026

Abstract

This project ranks stocks in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ-100 using TOPSIS, a multi-criteria decision-making method. Instead of relying on a single financial ratio, each stock is scored on ten indicators covering valuation, profitability, cash flow, leverage, growth, efficiency, volatility, and momentum. Weights are set with the entropy method, which gives more weight to indicators that vary more across stocks, so the weights come from the data rather than personal judgment. TOPSIS then measures how close each stock is to a hypothetical best case and how far it is from a worst case. The S&P 500 is analyzed as two separate groups, Financials and Non-Financials, because financial firms often show negative operating cash flow as part of normal business. Mastercard and Visa ranked first and second among Financials, while semiconductor and data storage firms (Micron, Western Digital, NVIDIA, and Seagate) took four of the top five spots among Non-Financials. The rankings describe relative financial strength at one point in time and were not tested against future returns.

Department

Department of Mathematical Sciences, DePauw University, Greencastle, IN

Project Mentor

Mamunur Rashid, Department of Mathematical Sciences

Funding and Acknowledgements

Supported by the DePauw University Student-Faculty Summer Research program.

Recommended Citation

Oh, Hyeseong '27, "Ranking Stocks in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ-100 Using an Entropy-Weighted TOPSIS Method" (2026). Annual Student Research Poster Session. 257.
https://scholarship.depauw.edu/srfposters/257