In the world of growth investing, finding stocks that consistently deliver strong financial performance is the name of the game. One well-known framework for identifying such opportunities comes from Louis Navellier’s The Little Book That Makes You Rich, which lays out eight core criteria for selecting superior growth stocks. These rules focus on positive earnings revisions, earnings surprises, accelerating sales and profit growth, strong cash flow, and high returns on equity. The idea is that companies hitting these marks are not just growing—they are building real, durable momentum that should, in theory, support their stock prices over time. With that framework in mind, we ran a screen based on these exact criteria, and one name that stood out is IAMGOLD CORP (NYSE:IAG).
How IAG Lines Up With Navellier’s Rules
To understand why IAG might be a suitable candidate, it helps to walk through how it stacks up against the eight rules from the book. The screening criteria are designed to catch companies that demonstrate not just growth, but quality growth—meaning the numbers are coming in strong across multiple dimensions.
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Positive Earnings Revisions: Analysts have been raising their expectations. The EPS estimate for the next quarter has been revised upward by 5.6% over the last three months, comfortably exceeding the 4% threshold used in the screen. In Navellier’s view, upward revisions are a signal that the company’s real performance is outpacing even the consensus, which often precedes further price movement.
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Positive Earnings Surprises: IAG has beaten analyst estimates in three of the last four quarters, with an average beat of 26.6%. The screen asks for at least three beats and an average beat above 10%, so this is a clear pass. Consistent surprises force analysts to raise their forward estimates, which can create a self-reinforcing cycle of rising expectations and rising prices.
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Increasing Sales Growth: Revenue growth is a cornerstone of the strategy. IAG’s trailing twelve-month revenue is up 92.3% year-over-year, and its quarter-over-quarter sales growth (comparing the last quarter to the same quarter last year) stands at 115.9%. Both are well above the 20% minimums set in the screen. Strong top-line growth is non-negotiable for a growth investor—it shows the company is capturing market share or benefiting from favorable demand.
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Expanding Operating Margin: The operating margin has expanded by 56% over the past year, far exceeding the 2% growth requirement. When a company can scale revenue while improving profitability, it demonstrates operating leverage—a valuable combination that often leads to outsized earnings growth.
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Strong Cash Flow: Free cash flow growth over the past year is a staggering 305.2%, against a 15% minimum. Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business, and strong generation gives management flexibility to reinvest, pay down debt, or return capital to shareholders.
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Earnings Growth: Year-over-year EPS growth is 233.3%, and quarter-over-quarter EPS growth (comparing the last quarter to the same quarter last year) is 570%. The screen requires at least 15% growth on both fronts, so IAG clears these hurdles by a wide margin. For growth investors, earnings growth is the ultimate report card.
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Positive Earnings Momentum: The screen also checks for acceleration by comparing the current quarter-over-quarter EPS growth to the figure from the same quarter a year ago. In IAG’s case, the current Q2Q growth of 570% is dramatically higher than the -9.1% figure from four quarters ago, signaling a strong inflection point. This is exactly the kind of momentum Navellier emphasizes.
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High Return on Equity: IAG’s ROE stands at 23.2%, well above the 10% minimum. A high and improving ROE indicates that the company is efficiently generating profits on shareholder equity, a hallmark of quality management.
What the Fundamentals Say at a High Level
Taking a step back, the full fundamental analysis report gives IAG a score of 7 out of 10, benchmarked against 164 peers in the Metals & Mining industry. The standout categories are profitability and valuation. Profitability scores an 8, with strong marks across return on assets, return on equity, and operating margins—all of which rank among the top decile of industry peers. Financial health is also solid at a 7, driven by excellent solvency metrics like a low debt-to-equity ratio and a healthy Altman-Z score of 5.01. Valuation is the real eye-catcher here: it scores a 9, driven by a P/E ratio of 8.51—cheaper than 95.7% of peers—and a forward P/E of just 6.04. That combination of high growth and low valuation creates what the report calls an attractive value-and-quality setup.
Growth scores a 6, reflecting strong recent numbers but some deceleration expected in the future. That said, the expected EPS growth rate of 21.4% per year over the coming years still outpaces most peers, and when you factor in the cheap valuation, the PEG ratio becomes quite attractive.
Why This Matters for the Strategy
The reason IAG is interesting through the lens of Navellier’s book is not just that it checks a lot of boxes—it’s that it checks them in a way that creates a potential convergence of forces. The screen is designed to find companies where earnings momentum, revenue acceleration, and analyst sentiment are all aligning. IAG shows triple-digit growth in both revenue and earnings, expanding margins, explosive free cash flow, and upward analyst revisions, all while trading at a discount to the industry and to the broader market. That kind of setup is exactly what the strategy is meant to surface: a growth stock that still looks cheap relative to its trajectory.
If you want to see what other stocks are passing the same test, you can explore the full list of results from this Little Book screen. The parameters used are a starting point—tweaking them can help you fine-tune for your own risk tolerance and market view.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Always conduct your own research or consult a financial professional before making investment decisions.
Read full article here »
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IAMGOLD Corp (NYSE:IAG) Shows High Growth Momentum and Improving Fundamentals
In the world of growth investing, finding stocks that consistently deliver strong financial performance is the name of the game. One well-known framework for identifying such opportunities comes from Louis Navellier’s The Little Book That Makes You Rich, which lays out eight core criteria for selecting superior growth stocks. These rules focus on positive earnings revisions, earnings surprises, accelerating sales and profit growth, strong cash flow, and high returns on equity. The idea is that companies hitting these marks are not just growing—they are building real, durable momentum that should, in theory, support their stock prices over time. With that framework in mind, we ran a screen based on these exact criteria, and one name that stood out is IAMGOLD CORP (NYSE:IAG).
How IAG Lines Up With Navellier’s Rules
To understand why IAG might be a suitable candidate, it helps to walk through how it stacks up against the eight rules from the book. The screening criteria are designed to catch companies that demonstrate not just growth, but quality growth—meaning the numbers are coming in strong across multiple dimensions.
Positive Earnings Revisions: Analysts have been raising their expectations. The EPS estimate for the next quarter has been revised upward by 5.6% over the last three months, comfortably exceeding the 4% threshold used in the screen. In Navellier’s view, upward revisions are a signal that the company’s real performance is outpacing even the consensus, which often precedes further price movement.
Positive Earnings Surprises: IAG has beaten analyst estimates in three of the last four quarters, with an average beat of 26.6%. The screen asks for at least three beats and an average beat above 10%, so this is a clear pass. Consistent surprises force analysts to raise their forward estimates, which can create a self-reinforcing cycle of rising expectations and rising prices.
Increasing Sales Growth: Revenue growth is a cornerstone of the strategy. IAG’s trailing twelve-month revenue is up 92.3% year-over-year, and its quarter-over-quarter sales growth (comparing the last quarter to the same quarter last year) stands at 115.9%. Both are well above the 20% minimums set in the screen. Strong top-line growth is non-negotiable for a growth investor—it shows the company is capturing market share or benefiting from favorable demand.
Expanding Operating Margin: The operating margin has expanded by 56% over the past year, far exceeding the 2% growth requirement. When a company can scale revenue while improving profitability, it demonstrates operating leverage—a valuable combination that often leads to outsized earnings growth.
Strong Cash Flow: Free cash flow growth over the past year is a staggering 305.2%, against a 15% minimum. Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business, and strong generation gives management flexibility to reinvest, pay down debt, or return capital to shareholders.
Earnings Growth: Year-over-year EPS growth is 233.3%, and quarter-over-quarter EPS growth (comparing the last quarter to the same quarter last year) is 570%. The screen requires at least 15% growth on both fronts, so IAG clears these hurdles by a wide margin. For growth investors, earnings growth is the ultimate report card.
Positive Earnings Momentum: The screen also checks for acceleration by comparing the current quarter-over-quarter EPS growth to the figure from the same quarter a year ago. In IAG’s case, the current Q2Q growth of 570% is dramatically higher than the -9.1% figure from four quarters ago, signaling a strong inflection point. This is exactly the kind of momentum Navellier emphasizes.
High Return on Equity: IAG’s ROE stands at 23.2%, well above the 10% minimum. A high and improving ROE indicates that the company is efficiently generating profits on shareholder equity, a hallmark of quality management.
What the Fundamentals Say at a High Level
Taking a step back, the full fundamental analysis report gives IAG a score of 7 out of 10, benchmarked against 164 peers in the Metals & Mining industry. The standout categories are profitability and valuation. Profitability scores an 8, with strong marks across return on assets, return on equity, and operating margins—all of which rank among the top decile of industry peers. Financial health is also solid at a 7, driven by excellent solvency metrics like a low debt-to-equity ratio and a healthy Altman-Z score of 5.01. Valuation is the real eye-catcher here: it scores a 9, driven by a P/E ratio of 8.51—cheaper than 95.7% of peers—and a forward P/E of just 6.04. That combination of high growth and low valuation creates what the report calls an attractive value-and-quality setup.
Growth scores a 6, reflecting strong recent numbers but some deceleration expected in the future. That said, the expected EPS growth rate of 21.4% per year over the coming years still outpaces most peers, and when you factor in the cheap valuation, the PEG ratio becomes quite attractive.
Why This Matters for the Strategy
The reason IAG is interesting through the lens of Navellier’s book is not just that it checks a lot of boxes—it’s that it checks them in a way that creates a potential convergence of forces. The screen is designed to find companies where earnings momentum, revenue acceleration, and analyst sentiment are all aligning. IAG shows triple-digit growth in both revenue and earnings, expanding margins, explosive free cash flow, and upward analyst revisions, all while trading at a discount to the industry and to the broader market. That kind of setup is exactly what the strategy is meant to surface: a growth stock that still looks cheap relative to its trajectory.
If you want to see what other stocks are passing the same test, you can explore the full list of results from this Little Book screen. The parameters used are a starting point—tweaking them can help you fine-tune for your own risk tolerance and market view.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Always conduct your own research or consult a financial professional before making investment decisions.
Read full article here »