Back to top

Image: Bigstock

5 Strong Buy Earnings Growth Stocks to Boost Your Portfolio

Read MoreHide Full Article

Right from the top brass to research analysts, unswerving earnings growth entices all and sundry. And why not? This is simply because earnings are a measure of the money a company is making. Take a company’s revenues over a given period of time, subtract the cost of production and you will have its earnings!

Better-than-expected earnings performances generally lead to a rally in the share price. In addition to actual earnings, expectations of earnings play a vital role in determining share price movement.

Earnings Estimates Shape Share Prices

We have often seen a decline in the stock price despite earnings growth and a rally in the price following an earnings decline. This is largely a result of a company’s earnings failing to meet market expectations.

Earnings estimates embody analysts’ opinions of factors such as sales growth, product demand, competitive industry environment, profit margins and cost controls. Thus, earnings estimates serve as a valuable tool while taking investment decisions. Earnings estimates also help analysts assess the cash flow to determine the fair value of a firm.

Even though the earnings season is quite a few weeks away, the reporting cycle has gotten underway. Total Q1 earnings are expected to be up 6.4% from the same period last year on 6.4% higher revenues (read more: Q1 Earnings Season Preview).

Investors, thus, should be on the lookout for stocks that are ready to make a big move. Hence, it is important for investors to invest in stocks that have historical earnings growth and are also seeing a rise in quarterly and annual earnings estimates.

The Winning Strategy

In order to shortlist stocks that have striking earnings growth and positive estimate revisions, we have added the following parameters:

Zacks Rank equal to 1 (Only Zacks' 'Strong Buys' are allowed. With the Zacks Rank proving itself to be one of the best rating systems out there, this is a great way to start things off.) You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

5-Year Historical EPS Growth (%) greater than X-Industry (stocks with a strong EPS growth history).

% Change EPS F(0)/F(-1) greater than or equal to 5 (companies that saw year-over-year earnings growth of 5% or more in the last reported fiscal).

% Change Q1 Estimates over the last 4 weeks greater than zero (stocks that have seen their current quarter earnings estimates revised higher in the last 4 weeks).

% Change F1 Estimates over the last 4 weeks greater than zero (stocks that have seen their annual earnings estimates revised higher in the last 4 weeks).

The above criteria narrowed down the universe of around 7,839 stocks to only 16. Here are the top five stocks:

Nutrisystem, Inc. provides weight management products and services for women and men in the U.S. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rose 11.6% over the last 60 days. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 25.6%, way ahead of the Consumer Products - Discretionary industry’s addition of 3.5%.

BMC Stock Holdings, Inc. operates as lumber and building materials distributor and solutions provider in the U.S. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increased 4.7% over the last 60 days. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 52.9%, way higher than the Building Products - Retail industry’s increase of 7.6%.

The Children's Place, Inc. (PLCE - Free Report) operates as a children's specialty apparel retailer. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increased 9.4% over the last 60 days. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 19.9%, in contrast to the Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry’s projected decline of 2.8%.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AAOI - Free Report) manufactures and sells fiber-optic networking products, primarily for Internet data center, cable television (CATV), and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networking end-markets. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings jumped 76.4% over the last 60 days. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 168.4%, way ahead of the Electronics - Semiconductors industry’s addition of 5.3%.

Broadcom Limited (AVGO - Free Report) designs, develops, and supplies a range of complex digital and mixed signal complementary metal oxide semiconductor based devices and analog III-V based products worldwide. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings improved 6.8% over the last 60 days. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 32%, way higher than the Electronics - Semiconductors industry’s addition of 5.3%.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance

Zacks Restaurant Recommendations: In addition to dining at these special places, you can feast on their stock shares. A Zacks Special Report spotlights 5 recent IPOs to watch plus 2 stocks that offer immediate promise in a booming sector. Download it free »


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) - free report >>

The Children's Place, Inc. (PLCE) - free report >>

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AAOI) - free report >>