Zacks.com featured highlights include Materion, Willdan Group, Build-A-Bear Workshop and NCS Multistage

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 11, 2025 – Stocks in this week’s article are Materion Corp. MTRN, Willdan Group, Inc. WLDN, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. BBW and NCS Multistage Holdings, Inc. NCSM.

Look Beyond the Fed: Bet on 4 Stocks with Increasing Cash Flows

Investors are keeping a close watch on the Fed in recent times as it gears up for the rate announcement, with attention also on signals about its next moves. Rather than dwelling solely on policy shifts, focusing on cash-rich stocks with strong returns may present attractive opportunities, offering stability and growth potential amid the evolving economic landscape.

Cash is the lifeblood of any business. It offers strength, vitality and flexibility to make investment decisions, and the fuel to run its growth engine. Moreover, cash shields a company from market turmoil and indicates that profits are being channeled in the right direction.

In this regard, stocks such as Materion Corp., Willdan Group, Inc., Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. and NCS Multistage Holdings, Inc. are worth buying.

One must go beyond profit numbers and look at a company's efficiency in generating cash flows to invest in the right stocks. This is because even a profit-making company can have a dearth of cash flow and fail to meet its obligations. However, a company's resiliency can be fairly judged when its efficacy in generating cash flows is assessed. This holds more relevance in the current context amid uncertainties in the global economy, market disruptions and dislocations.

To figure out this efficiency, one needs to consider a company's net cash flow. While in any business, cash moves in and out, it is net cash flow that explains how much money a company is actually generating.

If a company is experiencing a positive cash flow, it denotes an increase in its liquid assets, which gives it the means to meet debt obligations, shell out for expenses, reinvest in the business, endure downturns and finally return wealth to shareholders. On the other hand, a negative cash flow indicates a decline in the company's liquidity, which in turn lowers its flexibility to support these moves.

However, having a positive cash flow merely does not secure a company's future growth. To ride on the growth curve, a company must have its cash flow increasing because that indicates management's efficiency in regulating its cash movements and less dependency on outside financing for running its business.

Therefore, keep yourself abreast with the following screen to bet on stocks with rising cash flows.

Here are four out of nine stocks that qualified the screening:

Materion specializes in the manufacture and supply of high-performance engineered materials both in the United States and globally. Its product portfolio includes precious and non-precious specialty metals, inorganic chemicals and powders, specialty coatings, beryllium and beryllium composites, as well as engineered clad and plated metal systems.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 8.2% over the past two months. MTRN currently has a VGM Score of B.

Willdan Group delivers professional, technical, and consulting services to utilities, private companies and government agencies at all levels. The company helps clients achieve cost and energy efficiencies through a broad array of specialized solutions.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Willdan Group's current-year earnings has improved 27.7% over the past two months to $3.60. WLDN has a VGM Score of B.

Build-A-Bear Workshop is one of the leading retailers of stuffed animals, like teddy bears and related products. Customers stuff, dress, accessorize, and name teddy bears and other characters based on the company's intellectual property, together with a variety of best-in-class licenses.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Build-A-Bear Workshop's fiscal 2026 earnings has been revised 3.9% upward to $4.03 per share over the past 30 days. BBW has a VGM Score of A.

NCS Multistage Holdings delivers engineered products and support services that help oil and gas operators optimize well completions and field development. Serving mainly exploration and production companies, NCS Multistage focuses on onshore wells, especially those with horizontal laterals in unconventional oil and natural gas formations.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 62% over the past 60 days. NCSM currently has a VGM Score of A.

Get the rest of the stocks on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and back-testing software.

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.

For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/2749415/look-beyond-the-fed-bet-on-4-stocks-with-increasing-cash-flows

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.

About Screen of the Week

Zacks.com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the "#1 site for screening stocks" by Money Magazine.  But powerful screening tools is just the start. That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use.

Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has more than doubled the market from 1988 through 2016. Its average gain has been a stellar +25% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.

Follow us on Twitter:  https://www.twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ZacksInvestmentResearch

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Contact: Jim Giaquinto

Company: Zacks.com

Phone: 312-265-9268

Email: [email protected]

Visit: https://www.zacks.com/

Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research