StockSignal
How to use the screener to find companies with reliable, structurally supported growth patterns.
The Question
How do I find companies growing consistently? Growth is one of the most sought-after characteristics in investing, but raw growth rates can be misleading. A company that grew 50% last year after declining 30% the year before is not the same as one that has grown 10-15% steadily for a decade. The screener distinguishes between erratic growth and structural growth — the kind that is supported by underlying business dynamics rather than one-time events.
What Consistent Growth Means Structurally
Consistent growth requires two things: a business that generates expanding revenue and earnings over time, and a pattern where that expansion is regular rather than volatile. The consistency dimension is critical because it suggests the growth is driven by structural factors — expanding markets, competitive advantages, reinvestment discipline — rather than by cyclical tailwinds or accounting timing that produces erratic results.
The screener separates growth rate from growth quality. A high growth rate with low consistency may represent a cyclical business or a one-time event. A moderate growth rate with high consistency may represent a compounding machine. The stories in the screener capture different aspects of the growth picture, from the raw trajectory to the sustainability signals that support it.
Key Signals
Growth Consistency
What it measures: The regularity of earnings and revenue growth over time. Calculated from the variance and trend of historical growth rates, this signal distinguishes steady growers from volatile ones. A company with low variance in its growth rate scores high on consistency regardless of the absolute growth level.
Data source: Multi-period analysis of revenue and earnings growth rates, measuring both the trend and the deviation from that trend.
Revenue Growth Rate
What it measures: The rate at which the company's revenue is expanding. This is the most fundamental growth signal — is the business getting bigger? Revenue growth is a prerequisite for sustainable earnings growth, though not a guarantee of it.
Data source: Year-over-year change in total revenue from the income statement.
EPS Growth Acceleration
What it measures: Whether the rate of earnings-per-share growth is increasing. Growth acceleration means not just that earnings are growing, but that they are growing faster than before. This can signal expanding competitive advantages or increasing returns to scale.
Data source: Second derivative of EPS growth — the change in the growth rate itself over successive periods.
Stories That Emerge
Consistent Grower
Constituent signals: Growth Consistency, Earnings Growth Rate, Revenue Growth Rate
What emerges: When growth consistency is high and both earnings and revenue are expanding, it reveals a business that grows reliably. The consistency signal is the key differentiator — it filters out companies with high but erratic growth. What remains are businesses where the growth pattern suggests structural drivers rather than episodic factors.
Limits: Past consistency does not guarantee future consistency. Companies can hit growth ceilings as markets saturate, face new competition, or encounter regulatory changes. The story describes a historical pattern that may or may not continue.
Consistent Growth
Company with steady revenue and earnings growth over time
Earnings Acceleration
Constituent signals: EPS Growth Acceleration, Gross Profit Acceleration, Free Cash Flow Acceleration
What emerges: This story captures companies where growth is not just happening but intensifying. When earnings, gross profits, and free cash flow are all accelerating simultaneously, it suggests the business is entering a phase of expanding returns. This is distinct from the Consistent Grower — acceleration captures momentum and inflection, while consistency captures reliability.
Limits: Acceleration is inherently temporary. No company can accelerate indefinitely. High acceleration often precedes a normalization period. This story identifies a current phase, not a permanent characteristic.
Earnings Acceleration
Company with accelerating growth in earnings, profits, and cash flow
Growth with Volume Support
Constituent signals: Revenue Growth Rate, Volume Price Confirmation, Earnings Growth Rate
What emerges: When revenue growth is supported by volume and price confirmation in the market, it adds a layer of validation. The market is confirming the growth through trading activity, suggesting that the growth is recognized and being priced into the stock. This combination bridges fundamental growth metrics with market-based signals.
Limits: Market volume and price signals can be driven by factors unrelated to fundamental growth — momentum trading, index rebalancing, or sector rotation. Volume support validates attention, not the sustainability of the growth itself.
Volume-Backed Growth
Company with fundamental growth and volume confirmation in price moves
Capital Reinvestment Intensity
Constituent signals: Capex Intensity, Capex to Depreciation Ratio, Capital Expenditures to Operating Cash
What emerges: This story reveals how aggressively a company is reinvesting in its business. When capex intensity is high, the capex-to-depreciation ratio exceeds 1 (investing more than assets are depreciating), and a significant portion of operating cash goes to capital expenditures, the company is building capacity for future growth. This is a leading indicator — reinvestment today may drive growth tomorrow.
Limits: High reinvestment does not guarantee productive returns. Companies can invest heavily in projects that fail to generate adequate returns. Reinvestment intensity indicates commitment to growth, not the quality of that growth.
Capital Reinvestment
Company with elevated capital expenditure relative to cash generation
Using the Screener
Reliable Growth Screen
Select the Consistent Grower story to find companies with reliable, steady growth patterns. This is the broadest growth screen — it identifies companies where growth is both present and regular.
To find companies where reliable growth is intensifying, add Earnings Acceleration as a second filter. Companies passing both stories are consistent growers whose growth rate is currently increasing — a relatively rare and structurally significant combination.
Growth Investment Screen
Select Capital Reinvestment Intensity to find companies that are investing heavily in future capacity. Combine with Consistent Grower to filter for companies where that reinvestment is occurring in the context of an already-established growth track record. This identifies businesses that are both growing and building the capacity to continue growing.
Boundaries
What This Cannot Tell You
Growth signals describe historical and current growth patterns. They do not predict future growth rates. Companies that have grown consistently for years can plateau, and companies with no growth history can begin growing rapidly due to changed circumstances.
Growth consistency does not indicate whether the growth is creating value. A company can grow revenue and earnings consistently while destroying value through poor capital allocation — growing at rates below its cost of capital. Growth signals should be considered alongside profitability and capital efficiency metrics to assess whether growth is value-accretive.
These signals also cannot distinguish between organic growth and acquisition-driven growth. A company that grows through acquisitions may show consistent growth in aggregate while the underlying businesses are stagnant. The distinction requires qualitative analysis beyond what quantitative screening provides.