Investors should prioritize profitable companies that generate solid returns after covering all costs rather than invest in those that operate at a loss.

Here, we have used the concept of accounting ratios to evaluate a company’s profitability. There are several profitability ratios, from which we have chosen the most successful and frequently used profitability metric to determine a company's bottom-line performance.

To that end, Nova Ltd. NVMI, ACM Research, Inc. ACMR and United Airlines Holdings, Inc. UAL have been selected as the top picks with a high net income ratio.

Net Income Ratio

The net income ratio gives us the exact profitability level of a company. It reflects the percentage of net income to total sales revenues. Using the net income ratio, one can determine a firm’s effectiveness in meeting operating and non-operating expenses from revenues. A higher net income ratio usually implies a company’s ability to generate ample revenues and successfully manage all business functions.

Screening Parameters Using Research Wizard: 

The net income ratio is not the only indicator of future winners. So, we have added a few more criteria to arrive at a winning strategy.

Zacks Rank Equal to #1: Whether the market is 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.

Trailing 12-Month Sales and Net Income Growth Higher than X Industry: Stocks that have witnessed higher-than-industry sales and net income growth in the past 12 months are positioned to perform well.

Trailing 12-Month Net Income Ratio Higher than X Industry: A high net income ratio indicates a company’s solid profitability.

Percentage Rating Strong Buy greater than 70: This indicates that 70% of the current broker recommendations for the stock are Strong Buy.

These few parameters have narrowed the universe of more than 7,685 stocks to only five.

Here are three of the five stocks that qualified for the screening:

Nova 

Nova designs, develops, produces and sells semiconductor process control systems globally. The 12-month net profit margin of NVMI is 27.3%.

ACM Research

ACM Research designs and sells cleaning equipment to improve chip manufacturing globally. The 12-month net profit margin of ACMR is 13.3%.

United Airlines Holdings

United Airlines Holdings offers air transport services worldwide. The 12-month net profit margin of UAL is 5.5%.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

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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United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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