Although growth stock picks can be highly volatile, they can make good long-term investments. They may be well-known stars or quiet gems, but they do share one common attribute—they are growing at a higher-than-average rate within their industry, or within the market as a whole, and could keep growing for years or decades.
And keep in mind that we focus on growth stocks, which have a good long-term history and favourable prospects. We downplay momentum stocks that tend to attract many investors simply because they are moving faster than the market averages, but are liable to fall sharply when their momentum fades.
There’s room for growth stock investing in your portfolio, but make sure you follow our TSI Network three-part Successful Investor strategy for your overall portfolio:
- Invest mainly in well-established companies;
- Spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; Utilities);
- Downplay or avoid stocks in the broker/media limelight.
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The company continues to improve its technology and expand its wireless capacity and coverage. That’s paying off as customers use more mobile data for profitable services like music downloads and gaming.
Big departure from telecom
For example, Mentor’s software lets automakers use less wiring in a car, identify potential safety issues and minimize electromagnetic effects on sensitive components.
In the quarter ended January 31, 2015, Mentor’s revenue rose 9.5%, to $439.1 million from $401.0 million a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share gained 18.5%, to $1.09 from $0.92.
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In the three months ended December 31, 2014, Dorel’s sales rose 10.7%, to $701.6 million from $633.5 million a year earlier. Sales rose 6.0% at the sports segment and 13.5% at the juvenile products division. Home furnishing sales gained 14.2%.
Excluding one-time items, earnings fell 9.1%, to $11.0 million, or $0.34 share, from $12.1 million, or $0.38. The high U.S. dollar made the company’s international sales less profitable.
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Recently, the company agreed to buy Revett Mining Company (symbol RVM on New York) for $20 million in Hecla shares.
Hecla will keep moving ahead with permitting on Revett Mining’s Rock Creek project in northwestern Montana.
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H Partners, which owns 10% of Tempur Sealy’s shares, is best known for taking part in the turnaround of theme-park operator Six Flags Entertainment between 2010 and 2013. H Partners believes Tempur Sealy has performed poorly compared to other mattress makers since its 2013 purchase of Sealy Corp.
Whatever the outcome of H Partners’ investment, the activist investor’s involvement should draw attention to Tempur Sealy’s growth prospects.
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This coffee comes from Colombia’s Cauca mountain region, where volcanic ash in the soil gives it what Tim Hortons describes as “a hint of caramel and a smooth finish.”
The chain will sell the new brew for 15% more than its current coffees. Right now, Tim Hortons makes its coffee from a blend of various beans from sources in different countries. This helps offset varying growing seasons, as well as local droughts and other supply disruptions.
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Chipotle had a total of 1,783 outlets at the end of 2014 and plans to add 190 to 205 more this year. However, its strict adherence to its food standards could make continued expansion increasingly difficult.
That’s because demand for natural and humanely raised livestock is growing, especially in the U.S., where fast-food chains ranging from Dunkin’ Donuts to McDonald’s are switching over. In addition, new chains using naturally raised meat, like Five Guys and Shake Shack, are expanding rapidly.
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In its fiscal 2015 first quarter, which ended February 27, 2015, Adobe earned $0.44 a share, up 46.7% from $0.30 a year earlier. Revenue gained 10.9%, to $1.11 billion from $1.00 billion.
Like Symantec, Adobe is shifting from selling software as a one-time purchase and toward a subscription model. It now gets 70% of its revenue from recurring sources, up from 52% a year ago.
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In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended January 2, 2015, Symantec earned $367 million, unchanged from a year earlier. However, per-share earnings rose 1.9%, to $0.53 from $0.52, on fewer shares outstanding.
Revenue slipped 3.9%, to $1.64 billion from $1.71 billion. But if you disregard the negative impact of the high U.S. dollar on the company’s overseas sales, revenue was flat.
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As well, activist investor Carl Icahn recently increased his stake in the company to 10.98% from 9.98%. He bought his shares for $14.15 each and now holds 73 million shares, up from 66 million. Icahn has a long history of pushing companies to make changes that increase shareholder value.
Investors can put too much weight on insider trading, since insiders can delude themselves about their employer just as easily as outsiders—and it pays to remember that insiders may sell for a variety of personal reasons that have nothing to do with the company. On the other hand, insiders only make substantial buys for one reason—they think the company has investment appeal.
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