Stock Style Box

The Morningstar style box is a nine-square grid that provides a graphical representation of the "investment style" of stocks. It classifies securities according to market capitalization (the vertical axis) and growth and value factors (the horizontal axis). The style attributes of individual stocks are then used to determine the style classification of stock mutual funds.

The vertical axis of the style box defines three size categories, or capitalization bands: small, mid-size, and large. The horizontal axis defines three style categories; two of these categories, "value" and "growth," are common to both stocks and funds. For stocks, however, the central column of the style box represents the core style (those stocks for which neither value nor growth characteristics dominate); for funds, it represents the blend style (a mixture of growth and value stocks or mostly core stocks).