The Q4 earnings season is in full swing, and investors are now interested in betting on stocks based on profit numbers and surprises. Nevertheless, looking beyond profits and figuring out a company’s ability to generate cash flows can be far more rewarding.

This is because cash indicates a company’s true financial health. It offers the flexibility to make decisions, the means to make potential investments and the fuel to run its growth engine. Even a company generating profits might face bankruptcy while meeting obligations if it is low on cash flow. However, a sturdy cash balance can cushion companies during any market turbulence. Given the current global economic uncertainty, along with market disruptions and dislocations, this perspective is especially pertinent.

In this regard, stocks like Suzano S.A. SUZ, Photronics, Inc. PLAB, Mission Produce, Inc. AVO and Euroseas Ltd. ESEA are worth buying.

To figure out this efficiency, one needs to consider a company’s net cash flow. While in any business, cash moves in and out, it is net cash flow that explains how much money a company is actually generating.

If a company is experiencing a positive cash flow, it denotes an increase in its liquid assets, which gives it the means to meet debt obligations, shell out for expenses, reinvest in the business, endure downturns and finally return wealth to shareholders. On the other hand, a negative cash flow indicates a decline in the company’s liquidity, which in turn lowers its flexibility to support these moves.

However, having a positive cash flow merely does not secure a company’s future growth. To ride on the growth curve, a company must have its cash flow increasing because that indicates management’s efficiency in regulating its cash movements and less dependency on outside financing for running its business.

Therefore, keep yourself abreast with the following screen to bet on stocks with rising cash flows.

Screening Parameters:

To find stocks that have seen increasing cash flow over time, we ran the screen for those whose cash flow in the latest reported quarter was at least equal to or greater than the 5-year average cash flow per common share. This implies a positive trend and increasing cash over a period of time.

In addition to this, we chose:

Zacks Rank 1: No matter whether market conditions are good or bad, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) have a proven history of outperformance. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Average Broker Rating 1: This indicates that brokers are also highly hopeful about the company’s future performance.

Current Price greater than or equal to $5: This sieves out low-priced stocks.

VGM Score of B or better: This score is also of great assistance in selecting stocks. Importantly, this scoring system helps in picking winning stocks in their industry categories.

Here are four out of the 11 stocks that qualified for the screening:

Suzano is one of the largest vertically integrated producers of eucalyptus pulp and paper. It sells eucalyptus pulp and paper products in Brazil and internationally. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SUZ’s 2025 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 395.3%. Estimates for 2025 earnings per share have moved up by 12.5% over the past month. SUZ has a VGM Score of A.

Photronics is a leading worldwide manufacturer of photomasks. Photomasks are high-precision quartz plates that contain microscopic images of electronic circuits. A key element in the manufacture of semiconductors and flat panel displays, photomasks are used to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers and flat panel substrates during the fabrication of integrated circuits, a variety of flat panel displays and, to a lesser extent, other types of electrical and optical components.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Photronics’ fiscal 2025 earnings has moved up by 4.5% to $2.30 per share in the past two months. PLAB currently has a VGM Score of A.

Mission Produce Inc., based in Oxnard, CA, sources, produces, packs, distributes and markets avocados principally in the United States and internationally. The company serves retail, wholesale and foodservice customers. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2025 earnings per share has improved 44.8% over the past two months. AVO has a VGM Score of A.

Euroseas was formed under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands to consolidate the ship-owning interests of the Pittas family of Athens, Greece, which has been in the shipping business for the last 136 years. It operates in the dry cargo, dry bulk and container shipping markets.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Euroseas’ current-year earnings has moved 9.4% north in the past week. ESEA currently has a VGM Score of B.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.

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