Benzinga - by Zacks, Benzinga Contributor.
Growth stocks are attractive to many investors, as above-average financial growth helps these stocks easily grab the market's attention and produce exceptional returns. But finding a great growth stock is not easy at all.
By their very nature, these stocks carry above-average risk and volatility. Moreover, if a company's growth story is over or nearing its end, betting on it could lead to significant loss.
However, it's pretty easy to find cutting-edge growth stocks with the help of the Zacks Growth Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which looks beyond the traditional growth attributes to analyze a company's real growth prospects.
Brinker International (NYSE: EAT) is on the list of such stocks currently recommended by our proprietary system. In addition to a favorable Growth Score, it carries a top Zacks Rank.
Research shows that stocks carrying the best growth features consistently beat the market. And for stocks that have a combination of a Growth Score of A or B and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), returns are even better.
Here are three of the most important factors that make the stock of this operator of restaurant chains Chili's Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy a great growth pick right now.
Earnings Growth
Earnings growth is arguably the most important factor, as stocks exhibiting exceptionally surging profit levels tend to attract the attention of most investors. And for growth investors, double-digit earnings growth is definitely preferable, and often an indication of strong prospects (and stock price gains) for the company under consideration.
While the historical EPS growth rate for Brinker International is 4.4%, investors should actually focus on the projected growth. The company's EPS is expected to grow 41.5% this year, crushing the industry average, which calls for EPS growth of 8.5%.
Impressive Asset Utilization Ratio
Asset utilization ratio -- also known as sales-to-total-assets (S/TA) ratio -- is often overlooked by investors, but it is an important indicator in growth investing. This metric exhibits how efficiently a firm is utilizing its assets to generate sales.
Right now, Brinker International has an S/TA ratio of 1.72, which means that the company gets $1.72 in sales for each dollar in assets. Comparing this to the industry average of 0.97, it can be said that the company is more efficient.
In addition to efficiency in generating sales, sales growth plays an important role. And Brinker International is well positioned from a sales growth perspective too. The company's sales are expected to grow 5.1% this year versus the industry average of 3.1%.
Promising Earnings Estimate Revisions
Superiority of a stock in terms of the metrics outlined above can be further validated by looking at the trend in earnings estimate revisions. A positive trend is of course favorable here. Empirical research shows that there is a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
The current-year earnings estimates for Brinker International have been revising upward. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has surged 0.8% over the past month.
Bottom Line
Brinker International has not only earned a Growth Score of A based on a number of factors, including the ones discussed above, but it also carries a Zacks Rank #2 because of the positive earnings estimate revisions.
This combination positions Brinker International well for outperformance, so growth investors may want to bet on it.
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