Growth Stocks
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.
Make better stock picks when you read this FREE Special Report, Canadian Growth Stocks: WestJet Stock, RioCan Stock and More.
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Intel Corp., symbol INTC on Nasdaq, is the world’s leading computer-chip maker. For the first quarter of 2011, the company reported record revenue of $12.9 billion. That’s up 25.0% from $10.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010. Two acquisitions in the 2011 quarter contributed $496 million to revenue. The tech stock’s earnings jumped 33.8%, to $3.3 billion, or $0.59 per share, from $2.5 billion, or $0.43 a share. Intel saw strong demand in all product lines and all markets around the world. Revenue for the tech stock’s PC Client Group (microprocessors and motherboards for notebooks, desktop computers, and wireless connectivity products) rose 17%. The Data Center Group (microprocessors and motherboards for servers, workstations, storage and wired network connectivity products) gained 32%. The Other Intel Architecture Group (components for phones, embedded applications, netbooks and tablets, consumer electronics and handhelds) jumped by 70%....
Stanley Black & Decker Inc., New York symbol SWK, makes power and hand tools and security devices. It took its current form on March 12, 2010. That’s when Stanley Works bought the Black & Decker Corp. for $3.5 billion in stock. At the time of the merger, Stanley shareholders owned 50.5% of the combined company, and Black & Decker investors owned the remaining 49.5%. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, the company earned $157.8 million, or $0.92 a share, compared to a loss of $108.6 million, or $1.11 a share, a year earlier. Excluding charges relating to the merger, the growth stock’s earnings per share would have risen 54.3%, to $1.08 from $0.70. The growth stock’s sales rose 89.0% in the quarter, to $2.4 billion from $1.3 billion. If you assume the purchase occurred at the start of 2010, sales would have risen 4%....
The U.S. consumer sector is highly competitive. As well, retailers are more exposed to swings in the overall economy than companies in some other sectors, such as utilities. However, U.S. consumer stocks also hold the potential for strong gains. To cut your risk and earn higher profits when investing in this volatile sector, it’s especially important to focus on chains that can adapt quickly and prosper in the fast-changing retail landscape.
U.S.A. stock market: Shift to more profitable products pushed up this retailer’s latest results
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Cash Store Financial, symbol CSF on Toronto, operates 573 stores in Canada under two banners: Cash Store Financial and Instaloans. It also has six Cash Store outlets in the U.K. Both stores offer consumer payday loans (advances on upcoming paycheques). In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Cash Store earned $0.14 a share. That’s up 7.7% from $0.13 a share a year earlier. Revenue rose 15.7% in the latest quarter, to $47.2 million from $40.8 million, mainly because the company opened seven new branches in Canada and two new outlets in the U.K. Cash Store aims to increase its profitability by slowing its expansion, except in the U.K., where its stores’ profit margins are high. It is also offering a wider variety of bank accounts through an alliance with Calgary-based DirectCash Bank....
Every Wednesday, we publish our “Investor Toolkit” series on TSI Network. Whether you’re a new or experienced investor, these weekly updates are designed to give you specific investment advice, including tips for lower-risk aggressive investing. Each Investor Toolkit update gives you a fundamental piece of investing strategy, and shows you how you can put it into practice right away. Today’s tip: “What you need to know about ‘thin traders’” Many speculative stocks, including some of our recommendations in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter for aggressive investing, are inactive or “thin” traders. They trade a few hundred to a few thousand shares daily, compared to hundreds of thousands, if not several million, for a Canadian bank....
Wyndham Worldwide Corp., symbol WYN on New York, is the third-largest hotel company in the world with 7,190 franchised hotels. It operates under a number of brands, including Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Wingate by Wyndham, Baymont Inn & Suites, Microtel Inns & Suites, Hawthorn Suites, Howard Johnson, Travelodge, Knights Inn and Ameri-host Inn. We analyze Wyndham in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter for stocks that are appropriate for your aggressive portfolio. In addition to hotels, Wyndham manages a number of vacation resorts, rental properties, luxury clubs and time-shares. The aggressive portfolio stock now has 97,000 vacation rental properties worldwide....
Today’s fast-changing technology offers huge opportunities in tech stocks. However, fast change also brings danger. Here are 4 risk factors you face when investing in tech stocks (below we look at 4 ways you can minimize these risks—and increase your profits).
- Marketing is as hard as inventing: Even a great new product or computer program may fail to overcome retailer and customer skepticism.
- A tech stock’s acquisitions can bring “time-bomb” risk: Companies sometimes grow quickly by buying other companies. But sellers may simply want out of a losing situation.
- Major tech stocks also make mistakes: Junior tech stocks often trumpet their deals with major firms, such as Apple. Apple has vastly more knowledge and bargaining clout than any individual investor. But it still invests in products that fail.
- High-tech shams are common: It’s easier to set up a company and sell stock to investors than to perfect a technological advance. Be especially wary when junior technology stocks splurge on elaborate web sites and glossy investor brochures.
ADOBE SYSTEMS INC. $34 (Nasdaq symbol ADBE; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 504.5 million; Market cap: $17.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.2; No dividends paid since June 2005; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.adobe.com) makes software that lets computer users create documents in the popular PDF format. It also makes software that lets graphic designers create print publications and web pages. In its 2011 first quarter, which ended March 4, 2011, Adobe earned $298.1 million. That’s up 40.8% from $211.7 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 45.0% to $0.58 from $0.40, on fewer shares outstanding. These figures exclude several unusual items, such as gains on investment sales and income-tax adjustments. Sales rose 19.7%, to a record $1.0 billion from $858.7 million. Sales rose across all of Adobe’s divisions except print and publishing, where sales fell 1.8%. The uncertain business environment in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami will probably cut Adobe’s second-quarter revenue by about $50 million. Japan is Adobe’s second-biggest source of revenue by country....
Chipotle Mexican Grill, symbol CMG on New York, is a Denver-based Mexican-restaurant chain. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Chipotle’s revenue rose 24.3% to $509.4 million from $409.7 million a year earlier. The company’s restaurants attracted more customers during the quarter. That pushed up its same-restaurant sales by 12.4%. Chipotle also opened 12 new restaurants. It now has a total of 1,095 locations. Earnings rose 22.5%, to $46.4 million from $37.8 million. Earnings per share rose 24.2%, to $1.49 from $1.20, on fewer shares outstanding. The company holds cash of $282.9 million, or $9.10 a share, and has no debt....
YUM! BRANDS INC. $52 (New York symbol YUM Aggressive Growth Portfolio; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 466.9 million; Market cap: $24.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.yum.com) operates 38,000 fast-food restaurants in over 110 countries. Its main banners include KFC (fried chicken), Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Mexican food). It recently announced it will sell its Long John Silver’s (seafood) and its A&W (burgers) chains. Yum will soon make a formal offer to buy the 72.8% of Little Sheep Group Ltd. that it does not already own. This company operates 480 “hot pot” restaurants, mainly in China. Hot pot restaurants have special cooking pots at the centre of each table. Customers can serve themselves from the pots. Expanding in China is helping Yum offset slower growth in the U.S. In the first quarter of 2011, overall sales rose 3.4%, to $2.43 billion from $2.35 billion a year earlier. Excluding unusual items, earnings per share rose 6.8%, to $0.63 from $0.59....