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4 Top Stocks to Buy for Superb Earnings Growth

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Take a company’s revenues over a given period of time, subtract the cost of production and you will have its earnings! Earnings growth enthralls almost everyone, right from the top brass to research analysts. And why not? If the company doesn’t make money, it won’t last over the long haul.

This metric is also considered a key variable in influencing the share price. Better-than-expected earnings performances normally lead to a rally in the share price. However, in addition to actual earnings, expectations of earnings play a significant role in influencing the price of a stock.

Earnings Estimates Determine 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 control. Thus, earnings estimates serve as a valuable tool while making investment decisions. Earnings estimates also help analysts assess the cash flow to determine the fair value of a firm.

Investors, thus, should be on the lookout for stocks that are ready to make a big move. Hence, it is important for investors to buy 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 less than or equal to 2 (Only Zacks' 'Buys' and '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.)

5-Year Historical EPS Growth (%) greater than X-Industry (Stocks that possess strong EPS growth history.)

% Change EPS F(0)/F(-1) greater than or equal to 5 (Companies that witnessed year-over-year earnings growth rate 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 1 week greater than zero (Stocks that have seen their annual earnings estimates revised higher in the last 1 week.)

% 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 7,818 stocks to only nine.

Here are the top four stocks:

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI - Free Report) owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 18.3%, higher than the Retail - Restaurants industry’s estimated rise of 3.7%.

Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY - Free Report) operates as a retailer of technology products, services, and solutions in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 5.6%, higher than the Retail - Consumer Electronics industry’s projected rise of 2.4%.

BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. is a biopharmaceutical company. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 55.3%, higher than the Medical - Drugs industry’s expected rise of 7.1%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

ONEOK, Inc. (OKE - Free Report) engages in the gathering, processing, storage, and transportation of natural gas in the United States. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 6.5%, higher than the Utility - Gas Distribution industry’s estimated rally of 4.1%.

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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


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