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Best Earnings Acceleration Stocks in October: NIO, ROKU + One More

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Key Takeaways

  • Analysts are shifting focus from steady earnings growth to acceleration amid October market volatility.
  • NIO, Roku and Groupon meet key EPS growth criteria, showing consistent quarter-over-quarter acceleration.
  • Earnings acceleration often signals fundamentally strong companies poised for potential share price rallies.

Wall Street analysts consistently favor steady earnings growth because it highlights a company’s profitability. However, since October tends to be a volatile month for stocks, they are now emphasizing earnings acceleration, which is a key driver of stock prices. This shift is supported by various studies showing that stocks often experience an earnings surge before their stock value increases.

In this context, NIO Inc. (NIO - Free Report) , Roku, Inc. (ROKU - Free Report) , and Groupon, Inc. (GRPN - Free Report) are exhibiting impressive earnings acceleration.

Earnings Acceleration Explained

Earnings acceleration is the incremental growth in a company’s earnings per share (EPS). In other words, if a company’s quarter-over-quarter earnings growth rate increases within a stipulated time frame, it can be called earnings acceleration.

In the case of earnings growth, you pay for something that is already reflected in the stock price. However, earnings acceleration helps spot stocks that haven’t yet caught the attention of investors and, once secured, will invariably lead to a rally in the share price. This is because earnings acceleration considers both the direction and magnitude of growth rates.

An increasing percentage of earnings growth means that the company is fundamentally sound and has been on the right track for a considerable period. Meanwhile, a sideways percentage of earnings growth indicates a period of consolidation or slowdown, while a decelerating percentage of earnings growth may drag prices down.

Research Wizard Guide: Spotting Earnings Accelerators

Look at stocks for which the last two quarter-over-quarter percentage EPS growth rates exceed the previous periods’ growth rates. The projected EPS growth rates for the upcoming quarter are expected to exceed those of prior periods.

EPS % Projected Growth (Q1)/(Q0) greater than EPS % Growth (Q0)/(Q-1): The projected growth rate for the current quarter (Q1) over the completed quarter (Q0) has to be greater than the growth rate from the completed quarter (Q0) over one quarter ago (Q-1).

EPS % Growth (Q0)/(Q-1) greater than EPS % Growth (Q-1)/(Q-2): The growth rate for the completed quarter (Q0) over one quarter ago (Q-1) has to be greater than the growth rate from one quarter ago (Q-1) over two quarters ago (Q-2).

EPS % Growth (Q-1)/(Q-2) greater than EPS % Growth (Q-2)/(Q-3): The growth rate from one quarter ago (Q-1) over two quarters ago (Q-2) has to be greater than the growth rate from two quarters ago (Q-2) over three quarters ago (Q-3).

In addition to this, we have added the following parameters:

Current Price greater than or equal to $5: This screens out low-priced stocks.

Average 20-day volume greater than or equal to 50,000: High trading volume implies that the stocks have adequate liquidity.

The above criteria narrowed the universe of around 7,735 stocks to only 16. Here are the top three stocks:

NIO

NIO designs and sells smart electric vehicles for China, Europe, and global markets. NIO has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). NIO’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 34.4%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Roku 

Roku, together with its subsidiaries, runs a TV streaming platform in the United States and abroad. Roku has a Zacks Rank #3. ROKU’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 113.5%.

Groupon

Groupon connects consumers to merchants by offering discounted goods and services worldwide. Groupon has a Zacks Rank #1. GRPN’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is nearly 153%.

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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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Groupon, Inc. (GRPN) - free report >>

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