Bearish Engulfing
A bearish engulfing pattern is a two-candle reversal in which a down candle's real body completely covers the previous up candle's body. Selling in a single session more than reverses the prior session's buying.
- Bias
- Bearish
- Category
- Short Setups
- Scan cadence
- Every close
What has to be true for a Bearish Engulfing to trigger
- An up candle followed by a down candle
- The down candle's body fully engulfing the up candle's body
- A preceding advance
How PatternGrade grades it
A larger engulfing body relative to the one it covers, and a clearer preceding advance, raise the grade.
Every scanner grades its hits A+, A or B from the pattern's own measurable structure. The grading is deterministic — the same chart always produces the same grade. It describes how closely the chart matches the pattern, not how likely anything is to happen; no hit rate or probability is attached to a grade. The reasoning is set out in the methodology.
What a Bearish Engulfing looks like in practice
A stock closes up at $71.30 after opening at $70.60, a modest green body, at the end of a three-week advance. The next session opens at $71.80, above the prior close, then sells off all day to close at $70.20, below the prior open. The second body fully covers the first, volume runs 2.4 times the previous session, and the close sits near the low.
How a Bearish Engulfing fails
Price closes back above the engulfing candle's high and the advance resumes. The pattern is produced mechanically by any gap-up-and-fade session, which happens constantly around news and earnings, so engulfing bars occur far more often than reversals do. Without a prior extended advance and a level overhead that matters, the bar carries little information.
What this pattern is telling you
Engulfing candles are common in volatile names where large bodies are routine. The pattern means more in a quiet stock than a wild one.
PatternGrade is not a financial advisor and does not give buy or sell recommendations. Targets and stops shown on a pattern are reference levels derived from its geometry, not advice.
How to scan for Bearish Engulfing setups
PatternGrade rescans every liquid US stock (~4,500 names) for this pattern after every close and returns the hits as a graded list, with the pattern drawn on each chart, so you review setups rather than hunt for them.
Join the waitlist to be invited when sign-ups reopen and see the current Bearish Engulfing list, or browse all 75 patterns.
Bearish Engulfing FAQ
What does a bearish engulfing candle mean?
A down candle whose body completely engulfs the prior up candle's body: sellers overwhelming the previous session's buyers.
What defines a bearish engulfing pattern?
A down candle whose real body completely covers the previous up candle's real body, opening at or above the prior close and closing at or below the prior open. It is the bodies that must be engulfed, though the strongest examples engulf the wicks too.
Does it need an uptrend before it?
Yes, for the reversal reading to hold. The same geometry in the middle of a downtrend is just a strong down day. PatternGrade requires the preceding advance and weights its extent.
How much does volume matter?
A great deal. The pattern claims sellers overwhelmed buyers, and that claim is far stronger when the engulfing session trades heavier volume than the candle it engulfed. On light volume it is one of the weakest signals available.
Is bearish engulfing reliable?
It is among the most frequently cited candlestick reversals and also among the most common, which dilutes it. Its value depends overwhelmingly on where it appears. At a prior high after an extended run, on heavy volume, it means considerably more than in open space.
Patterns a Bearish Engulfing is mistaken for
- Dark Cloud Cover
- Dark cloud cover closes below the midpoint of the prior body but does not fully engulf it. Engulfing is the more complete version.
- Evening Star
- Three candles with an indecision bar in the middle. Engulfing is two consecutive candles.
- Bullish Engulfing
- The mirror after a decline: an up candle's body covering the prior down candle's.
- Shooting Star
- A shooting star is one session defined by its upper wick. Engulfing is two sessions defined by body relationships.
Last reviewed . Structure and grading for the Bearish Engulfing are reviewed against the scanner's own rules.