To determine earnings, subtract production costs from revenues. Consistent earnings growth is crucial for all companies since survival depends on profitability. Earnings are also considered the most important factor influencing share prices.
However, expectations of earnings play a significant role. Still, stocks like NVIDIA Corporation NVDA, Alphabet Inc. GOOGL and JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM are currently demonstrating strong earnings growth.
Earnings Estimates & Share Price Movements
We have frequently seen a decline in stock prices despite earnings growth, followed by a rally in prices after an earnings decline. This is largely the result of a company’s earnings failing to meet market expectations.
Earnings estimates embody analysts’ opinions on 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 a firm's cash flow to determine its fair value.
Thus, investors should be on the lookout for stocks ready to make a big move. Hence, investors need to buy stocks with historical earnings growth and are seeing a rise in quarterly and annual earnings estimates.
Screening Measures Using Research Wizard:
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 with a strong EPS growth history).
% Change EPS F(0)/F(-1) greater than or equal to 5 (companies that saw year-over-year earnings growth 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 the universe of around 7,839 stocks to only 26. Here are the top three stocks:
NVIDIA
NVIDIA is a computing infrastructure company that provides graphics, compute, and networking solutions worldwide. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for next year is 40.6%. NVDA currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Alphabet
Alphabet offers various products and platforms across global markets. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the next five years is 15.7%. GOOGL currently has a Zacks Rank #2.
JPMorgan
JPMorgan is a global financial services company involved in consumer banking, investment banking and asset management. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the next five years is 8.3%. JPM currently has a Zacks Rank #2.
You can sign 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.
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.
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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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JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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