3 Strong Earnings Growth Stocks You'll Wish You Bought Sooner

Earnings growth is crucial for any organization, no matter its size, because profitability is key to survival. To calculate earnings, examine a company’s revenues over a certain period and subtract the production costs. Earnings greatly impact share prices, with earnings expectations playing a significant role.

On that note, Five Below, Inc. FIVE, TechnipFMC plc FTI and HBT Financial, Inc. HBT are delivering strong and impressive earnings growth.

Earnings Estimates & Share Price Movements

We have frequently seen stock prices decline despite earnings growth or rally after an earnings decline. This is largely the result of a company’s earnings failing to meet market expectations.

Earnings estimates reflect analysts’ views on factors such as sales growth, product demand, the competitive industry environment, profit margins, and cost control. Consequently, earnings estimates are a valuable tool for making investment decisions. They also assist analysts in evaluating cash flow to determine a firm's fair value.

Thus, investors should be on the lookout for stocks ready to make a big move. Hence, investors need to buy stocks with a history of 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 10. Here are the top three stocks:

Five Below

Five Below is a specialty value retailer operating across the United States. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 25%. FIVE currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

TechnipFMC

TechnipFMC provides technologies, systems, and services for oil and natural gas projects across global markets. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 18.4%. FTI currently has a Zacks Rank #1.

HBT Financial

HBT Financial is a bank holding company providing financial services in Illinois and eastern Iowa. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 19.1%. HBT currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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TechnipFMC plc (FTI): Free Stock Analysis Report

Five Below, Inc. (FIVE): Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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