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5 Sales Growth Stocks Worth Adding to Your Portfolio Now

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Steady sales growth is the key to survival for any business. Sales growth not only provides an understanding of product demand and pricing power but also is vital for growth projections and strategic decision-making.

Nonetheless, often investors fail to consider sales growth as a dependable metric for picking profitable stocks. This might be because of investors’ predetermined concept that a company’s stock price is typically sensitive to its earnings momentum.

Yet, one must look for a strong relationship between sales growth levels and the value of an enterprise. This is because in cases where companies incur a loss, albeit briefly, they are valued on their revenues not earnings, as top-line growth (or decline) is usually an indicator of a company’s future performance.

One must also ensure that sales numbers are not only increasing but recording year-over-year growth as well. So, the Price-to-Sales (P/S) ratio can turn out to be an appropriate metric for stock valuation. This metric’s importance lies in the fact that management has limited opportunities to manipulate revenues, unlike earnings.

However, a huge sales number does not necessarily convert into profits. Hence, considering a company’s cash position along with its sales number can prove to be a more dependable strategy. Substantial cash in hand and a steady cash flow give a company more flexibility with respect to business decisions and investments.

Picking Winning Stocks

In order to shortlist stocks with impressive sales growth and a high cash balance, we have selected 5-Year Historical Sales Growth (%) greater than X-Industry and Cash Flow more than $500 million as our main screening parameters.

But sales growth and cash strength are not the absolute criteria for selecting stocks. Hence, we have added certain other factors to arrive at a winning strategy.

P/S Ratio less than X-Industry: This metric determines the value placed on each dollar of a company’s revenues. The lower the ratio, the better it is for picking a stock since the investor is paying less for each unit of sales.

% Change F1 Sales Estimate Revisions (four weeks) greater than X-Industry: Estimate revisions, better than the industry, are often seen to trigger an increase in stock price.

Operating Margin (average last five years) greater than 5%: Operating margin measures how much every dollar of a company's sales translates into profits. A high ratio indicates that the company has good cost control and sales are increasing faster than costs — an optimal situation.

Return on Equity (ROE) greater than 5%: This metric will ensure that sales growth is translated into profits and the company is not hoarding cash. A high ROE means that the company is spending wisely and is in all likelihood profitable.

Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) stocks are known to outperform, irrespective of the market environment. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Here are five of the 27 stocks that qualified the screening:

Headquartered in Richfield, MN, Best Buy Company Inc. (BBY - Free Report) is a multinational specialty retailer of consumer electronics, home office products, entertainment software, communication, food preparation, wellness, health, security, appliances, and related services. Its expected sales growth rate for fiscal 2022 is 9.7%. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Irving, TX-based Commercial Metals Company (CMC - Free Report) manufactures, recycles and markets steel and metal products, related materials and services. The company’s expected sales growth rate for fiscal 2022 is 6.9%. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (J - Free Report) is one of the leading providers of professional, technical, and construction services to industrial, commercial, and governmental clients. This Dallas, TX-based company’s sales are expected to increase at a rate of 8.9% for fiscal 2022. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

New York-headquartered, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS - Free Report) is a leading global financial holding company providing investment banking, securities, investment management, and consumer banking services to a diversified client base. Its expected sales growth rate for 2021 is 31%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

Headquartered in Lowell, AR, J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT - Free Report) is a provider of a broad range of transportation services to a diverse group of customers. Its expected sales growth rate for 2021 is 24.3%. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

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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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