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Zacks.com featured highlights include include Malibu Boats, Meritor, Arista Networks, JA Solar and Universal Display

Asbury Automotive (ABG) shares have started gaining and might continue moving higher in the near term, as indicated by solid earnings estimate revisions.

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 20, 2017 - Stocks in this week’s article include Malibu Boats Inc (Nasdaq: MBUU – Free Report), Meritor Inc (NYSE: MTOR – Free Report), Arista Networks Inc (NYSE: ANET – Free Report), JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: JASO – Free Report) and Universal Display Corporation (Nasdaq: OLED – Free Report).

Screen of the Week of Zacks Investment Research:

5 Must-Buy Stocks Heading into Q3 Earnings Season

Corporate earnings are expected to increase every year through at least 2019, while total Q3 earnings for the S&P 500 members are expected to rise 3.3% from the same period last year on 5% higher revenues. For this year, total earnings for the S&P 500 members are expected to increase 8.1% on 5% higher revenues, which would follow a paltry 0.7% earnings growth on 2.1% higher revenues last year (read more: Q3 Earnings Season Gets Underway).

Earnings growth enthralls almost everyone, right from the top brass to research analysts. And why not? If the company doesn’t make money, it won’t last over the long haul. Take a company’s revenues over a given period of time, subtract the cost of production and, there it is, you have earnings!

This metric is also considered to be the most significant variable in influencing the share price. Better-than-expected earnings performances normally lead to a rally in the share price. But, expectations of earnings also play a significant role in influencing the price of a stock.

Earnings Estimates Determine Share Prices

We have often seen a decline in the stock price despite earnings growth and a rally in the price following an earnings decline. This happens because of the missing or beating of estimates.

Earnings estimates embody analysts’ opinions of 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 the cash flow to determine the fair value of a firm.

Investors, thus, should be on the lookout for stocks that are ready to make a big move. Hence, it is important for investors to buy stocks that have 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 equal to 1 (Only Zacks' '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 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 7,881 stocks to only 18. Here are the best five stocks:

Malibu Boats Inc(Nasdaq: MBUU – Free Report) is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of performance sport boats. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings increased 2.2% over the last 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current and next quarters are 19.2% and 19.1%, respectively.

Meritor Inc (NYSE: MTOR – Free Report) is a supplier of a range of integrated systems, modules and components to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the aftermarket for the commercial vehicle, transportation and industrial sectors. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings climbed 18.9% over the last 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter is 31.6%.

Arista Networks Inc(NYSE: ANET – Free Report) is a supplier of cloud networking solutions that use software innovations to address the needs of Internet companies, cloud service providers and data centers for enterprise support. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings rose 18.8% over the last 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current and next quarters are 45.1% and 19.9%, respectively.

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd.(Nasdaq: JASO – Free Report) designs, develops, manufactures and sells solar power products that convert sunlight into electricity for a range of uses. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings skyrocketed more than 100% over the last 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter is 20%.

Universal Display Corporation(Nasdaq: OLED – Free Report) is engaged in the research, development and commercialization of organic light emitting diode, technologies and materials for use in display and solid-state lighting applications. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings rose 19.4% over the last 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current and next quarters are 400% and 43.6%, respectively.

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.

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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Sign up now for your free trial today and start picking better stocks immediately. And with the backtesting feature, you can test your ideas to see how you can improve your trading in both up markets and down markets. Don’t wait for the market to get better before you decide to do better. Start learning how to be a better trader today: https://at.zacks.com/?id=111

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

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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.


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Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Meritor, Inc. (MTOR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Universal Display Corporation (OLED) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Malibu Boats, Inc. (MBUU) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
JA Solar Holdings, Co., Ltd. (JASO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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