/industry-map

description: Map an industry's supply / value chain as a directed graph — upstream to downstream — to locate a company's position, find chokepoints and margin pools, and surface second-order investment ideas

Industry Map — Supply & Value Chain

⚠️ Data Verification — Do This Before Any Analysis

Before running any analysis, always retrieve the latest market data for the ticker:

1. **Fetch current price** — use web search or ask the user for the live price, 52-week range, and market cap. Never assume a price from training data. 2. **Confirm key figures** — recent earnings, revenue, key ratios (P/E, P/S, etc.) as applicable to this skill. 3. **State your data source** — fill in the `Data & Sources` header (next section) so the origin, as-of date, retrieval path, and confidence of every figure are explicit at the top of the output. 4. **Flag stale data explicitly** — if live data is unavailable, display this warning before proceeding:

> ⚠️ **Live data unavailable.** The following analysis uses training-data estimates which may be significantly out of date. Verify all prices and metrics before making any decisions.

Never silently substitute training-data estimates for current prices. When in doubt, ask the user to paste the latest quote.

---

📋 Data & Sources Header — Open Every Output With It

The first thing in the output is this provenance block, filled in — never left as placeholders. It is the standard documented on the [Data & Accuracy](https://yennanliu.github.io/InvestSkill/data-and-accuracy.html) page and the first thing `result-validator` looks for:

Data & Sources
  As of:      <date the figures represent, e.g. 2026-06-30>
  Source:     <primary docs — SEC EDGAR 10-K/10-Q, company IR, FRED, exchange data …>
  Retrieval:  <pasted by user | web/tool retrieval | model memory>
  Confidence: <HIGH | MEDIUM | LOW>

• `Retrieval: model memory` must be paired with `Confidence: LOW` — memory is a placeholder until confirmed against a primary source.
• Mixed sources: list each with its own as-of date rather than blending them.
• Sources disagree on the same figure (a closing price, a deal term): prefer the primary source (SEC filing, company release, exchange data) over an aggregator, then the most recent dated one. Show both values with their sources and dates, say which you used and why, and never average them.
• Data the user pasted is reported as `pasted by user`; do not upgrade its confidence beyond what the user's own source supports.

---

Draw an industry's supply and value chain as a directed graph — from raw inputs upstream all the way down to the end user — so you can take a **bird's-eye view of a business**, see where a company sits in the flow, understand where value and pricing power concentrate today, and reason about where they will migrate next.

Overview

Most analysis looks at one company in isolation. This skill zooms out and answers a different question: **"How does this whole industry actually work, layer by layer, and who captures the profit at each stage?"**

A value chain is a **directed graph**: nodes are the layers of production (raw materials → components → integrators → platforms → distribution → end users), and edges point in the direction goods and services flow — from supplier to customer. Once the chain is drawn, three things become visible that a single-company view hides:

1. **Position** — is the target company upstream (inputs), midstream (integration/manufacturing), or downstream (distribution / end demand)? Position determines cyclicality, margin profile, and who has pricing power over whom. 2. **Chokepoints** — the layer(s) with the fewest credible suppliers capture disproportionate value. Following the chain reveals bottleneck monopolies (e.g. EUV lithography, leading-edge foundry) that are the real toll-collectors of a theme. 3. **Value migration** — the profit pool is not fixed. It shifts down (or up) the chain over time as scarcity moves. Mapping the chain lets you form a thesis about *where the money goes next* — the "picks-and-shovels" and second-order plays.

This complements — and does not duplicate — the existing skills. `competitor-analysis` studies one company's moat *horizontally* against its direct peers; `sector-analysis` ranks the 11 GICS sectors for rotation. This skill maps a theme or product *vertically*, cutting **across** sectors, to show the whole flow. Output feeds naturally into `competitor-analysis` (pick a node, study its moat), `stock-screener` (rank the tickers at one layer), and `chart-master` / `report-generator` (render the graph).

---

1. The Value Chain Model

Every physical or digital product can be decomposed into ordered layers. Use this generic template and adapt the layer names to the specific industry:

UPSTREAM ───────────────► MIDSTREAM ───────────────► DOWNSTREAM
(scarce inputs,           (integration, manufacture,   (distribution, demand,
 tools, IP)                assembly, platforms)          the end customer)

Raw materials / inputs
   → Enabling tools & equipment
      → Components / sub-systems
         → Integrators / OEMs
            → Platforms / aggregators
               → Channel / distribution
                  → End users / demand

**Node attributes** — for each layer, capture:

• **Layer name** and what it does in one line
• **Representative public tickers** (2–5) and any dominant private players
• **Position tag**: `Upstream` / `Midstream` / `Downstream`
• **Concentration**: how many credible suppliers exist (monopoly / oligopoly / fragmented)
• **Value capture today**: does this layer earn high or thin margins right now?

**Edge attributes** — for each arrow (supplier → customer):

• Direction of flow (always supplier → the layer that buys from it)
• Dependency strength (sole-source / multi-source / commodity)
• Whether the buyer can integrate backward, or the supplier forward

---

2. Step 1 — Define the Scope

Clarify what is being mapped. The inp