Although earnings season is well under way, over 400 companies are reporting their latest quarterly earnings next week. Do you have a watch list prepared?
For ideas we ran a screen on next week's reporting companies for those with high projected earnings growth over the next 5 years. We then screened for those that short sellers believe will outperform, with significant decreases in shares shorted month-over-month.
Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the top six stocks mentioned below. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.
We also created a price-weighted index of the stocks mentioned below, and monitored the performance of the list relative to the S&P 500 index over the last month. To access a complete analysis of this list's recent performance, click here.
Do you think these stocks will report earnings surprises next week? Use this list as a starting point for your own analysis.
1. Accretive Health, Inc. (AH): Provides end-to-end healthcare revenue cycle management services and population health management services to hospitals and healthcare providers in the United States. Earnings to be released on 02/29. 5-year projected EPS growth at 29.60%. Shares shorted have decreased from 11.12M to 10.41M over the last month, a decrease which represents about 1.54% of the company's float of 46.22M shares.
2. Cninsure Inc. (CISG): Provides insurance brokerage and agency services, and insurance claims adjusting services in the People's Republic of China. Earnings to be released on 03/01. 5-year projected EPS growth at 20.53%. Shares shorted have decreased from 2.44M to 1.96M over the last month, a decrease which represents about 1.85% of the company's float of 26.01M shares.
3. Noah Holdings Limited (NOAH): Engages in the distribution of wealth management products to the high net worth population in China. Earnings to be released on 02/28. 5-year projected EPS growth at 42.35%. Shares shorted have decreased from 2.29M to 1.70M over the last month, a decrease which represents about 3.38% of the company's float of 17.44M shares.
4. Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NOG): Engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas properties in the Williston basin, the United States. Earnings to be released on 02/27. 5-year projected EPS growth at 35.00%. Shares shorted have decreased from 18.64M to 17.75M over the last month, a decrease which represents about 1.53% of the company's float of 58.25M shares.
5. Universal Display Corp. (PANL): Engages in the research, development, and commercialization of organic light emitting diode (OLED) technologies and materials for use in flat panel display, solid-state lighting, and other product applications. Earnings to be released on 02/28. 5-year projected EPS growth at 24.50%. Shares shorted have decreased from 13.45M to 12.53M over the last month, a decrease which represents about 2.7% of the company's float of 34.12M shares.
6. STEC, Inc. (STEC): Designs, manufactures, and markets enterprise-class flash solid-state drives for use in high-performance storage and server systems. Earnings to be released on 02/28. 5-year projected EPS growth at 21.44%. Shares shorted have decreased from 7.44M to 6.91M over the last month, a decrease which represents about 1.53% of the company's float of 34.68M shares.
7. Teavana Holdings, Inc. Common S (TEA): Operates as a specialty retailer of loose-leaf teas, teawares, and other tea-related merchandise. Earnings to be released on 02/27. 5-year projected EPS growth at 31.67%. Shares shorted have decreased from 6.49M to 6.36M over the last month, a decrease which represents about 1.77% of the company's float of 7.33M shares.
8. Trex Co. Inc. (TREX): Distributes wood/plastic composite products primarily for residential and commercial decking and railing applications in the United States. Earnings to be released on 02/27. 5-year projected EPS growth at 37.05%. Shares shorted have decreased from 2.64M to 2.47M over the last month, a decrease which represents about 1.25% of the company's float of 13.61M shares.
9. VanceInfo Technologies Inc. (VIT): Engages in the provision of information technology services. Earnings to be released on 02/28. 5-year projected EPS growth at 22.25%. Shares shorted have decreased from 7.10M to 5.65M over the last month, a decrease which represents about 4.75% of the company's float of 30.51M shares.
10. VIVUS Inc. (VVUS): Engages in the development and commercialization of therapeutic products for underserved markets in the United States. Earnings to be released on 02/27. 5-year projected EPS growth at 53.50%. Shares shorted have decreased from 16.25M to 15.60M over the last month, a decrease which represents about 1.16% of the company's float of 55.93M shares.
*Short data sourced from Yahoo Finance, all other data sourced from Finviz.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
