Cash is the lifeblood for a company’s existence, development and success. It gives strength and vitality to a company, the flexibility to make decisions, the means to make potential investments and the fuel to run its growth engine, reflecting its true financial health.
In this regard, stocks like National Energy Services Reunited Corp. NESR, Huron Consulting Group Inc. HURN, Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. FET and OptimumBank Holdings, Inc. OPHC are worth buying.
Though investors flock to companies that earn profits, even a profitable business can succumb to failure if its cash flow is uneven and eventually file for bankruptcy. Nonetheless, one can effectively judge a company’s resilience by evaluating its power of generating cash flows, as cash not only guards from market mayhem but also indicates that profits are being channelized in the right direction. Amid uncertainties in the global economy, market disruptions and dislocations, as well as liquidity concerns, this has become all the more important.
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 five-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 five stocks that qualified the screening:
National Energy Services is one of the largest national oilfield services providers in the MENA and Asia Pacific regions. NESR helps its customers unlock the full potential of their reservoirs by providing Production Services such as Cementing, Coiled Tubing, Filtration, Completions, Stimulation and Fracturing, and Nitrogen Services.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for National Energy Services’ 2026 earnings has improved 2.9% over the past week to $1.79. NESR currently has a VGM Score of A.
Huron Consulting provides financial and operational consulting services. The company's experienced and credentialed professionals employ their expertise in accounting, finance, economics and operations to a wide variety of both financially sound and distressed organizations.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Huron Consulting’s 2026 earnings has moved upward by 5.4% to $9.18 per share over the past 30 days. HURN has a VGM Score of A.
Forum Energy Technologies is a global oilfield product company, serving the subsea, drilling, completion, production and infrastructure sectors of the oil and natural gas industry. The company designs and manufactures products, and engages in aftermarket services, parts supply and related services that complement the company's product offering.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Forum Energy Technologies’ 2026 earnings has moved upward 41.7% to $3.06 per share over the past 30 days. FET currently has a VGM Score of B.
OptimumBank offers real estate lending and retail banking products to individuals and businesses in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach Counties.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 16.5% over the past 30 days. The company expects earnings growth of 39.4% for the current year. OPHC has a VGM Score of B.
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Huron Consulting Group Inc. (HURN): Free Stock Analysis Report
Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. (FET): Free Stock Analysis Report
National Energy Services Reunited (NESR): Free Stock Analysis Report
OptimumBank Holdings, Inc. (OPHC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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