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6 Best Earnings Growth Stocks for December

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Irrespective of whether it is a fledgling company or a renowned corporation, unswerving earnings growth is the highest priority for the top brass of any organization. And why not? If the company doesn’t make money, it won’t last over the long haul. Consider a company’s revenues over a given period of time, subtract the cost of production and you have earnings.

This metric is also considered to be the most noteworthy variable in influencing the share price. But, expectations of earnings also play a significant role in influencing the price of a stock.

Earnings Estimates Shape Share Prices

Time and again, we have seen the stock price decline despite earnings growth while many a times the stock price has risen despite a decline in earnings. This happens because of the missing or beating of estimates.        

So, what does earnings estimates symbolize? Earnings estimates embody analysts’ opinions of factors such as sales growth, product demand, competitive industry environment, profit margins and cost controls. Analysts can also examine the cash flow based on these periodic earnings estimates to determine the fair value of a company.

As 2016 draws to a close, we have picked stocks that have displayed 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 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.) You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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 7,854 stocks to only six. Here are the stocks:

Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV - Free Report) provides industry cloud software and data solutions for the life sciences industry in North America, the European Union, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 14.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings rose 22.2% over the last 60 days.

Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET - Free Report) supplies cloud networking solutions in the U.S. and internationally. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is pegged at 25.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increased 5% over the last 60 days.

TC PipeLines, LP acquires, owns and participates in the management of energy infrastructure businesses in North America. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 8.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increased 1.9% over the last 60 days.

Tristate Capital Holdings, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for TriState Capital Bank that provides various commercial and private banking services to middle-market businesses and high-net-worth individuals in the U.S. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year stands at 21.3%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings advanced 3.2% over the last 60 days.

LifeLock, Inc. provides identity theft protection services for consumers; and consumer risk management services for enterprises in the U.S. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 22.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increased 3.5% over the last 60 days.

Vantiv, Inc. provides electronic payment processing services to merchants and financial institutions in the U.S. The company’s estimated earnings growth rate for this year is 20.3%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings improved 1.9% over the last 60 days.

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.

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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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