Best-Performing S&P Composite 1500 Stocks at Midpoint 2026
August 2026
One of the clearest themes during the first half of 2026 was the remarkable breadth of the artificial intelligence (AI) investment cycle.

Worst-Performing S&P Composite 1500 Stocks at Midpoint 2026
August 2026
Many of the largest declines occurred in software, IT services and enterprise application companies as investors favored businesses supplying the semiconductor, memory and data-center ecosystem.

Information Tech Stocks Delivering Solid ROA and Free Cash Flow Growth
May 2026
This First Cut lists information technology companies that are likely to generate positive returns on their capital investments and have the resilience to service new debt.

Defensive Stocks With Low Debt for Volatile Markets
April 2026
Companies in defensive sectors often provide goods and services that will remain in demand even when the economy slows.

Stocks With Good A+ Investor Grades
March 2026
Companies showing strength across all five factors may warrant closer attention as investors look for opportunities supported by both fundamentals and market momentum.

All-Star Stocks Passing the Most AAII Screens
November 2025
A First Cut that lists the stocks passing the greatest number of screens tracked by AAII at the Screening area of AAII.com.

Best-Performing S&P Composite 1500 Stocks
August 2025
Looking at the strongest stocks year to date reveals industry leadership and potential investment opportunities.

Worst-Performing S&P Composite 1500 Stocks
August 2025
Looking at the weakest stocks year to date can expose companies poised for a reversal in fortunes.

Momentum Stocks With Positive Earnings Surprises
June 2025
When the markets are volatile and the economic environment is shifting, it can be illuminating to observe companies that are surpassing expectations and rewarding investors with above-average price strength.

The S&P 500 Outcasts: Picking Up the Dropped Stocks
November 2024
As a starting point for investors, this First Cut lists stocks possibly neglected due to their removal from the S&P 500 index.

Stocks With Consistent Dividend Increases and Positive Free Cash Flow
September 2024
This First Cut seeks out domestic, exchange-listed stocks that have consistently raised their annual dividend payment while maintaining positive free cash flow.

Best-Performing S&P Composite 1500 Stocks
July 2024
This month’s First Cut identifies the stocks in the S&P Composite 1500 index that have the highest price change this year when compared to their peers. 

Worst-Performing S&P Composite 1500 Stocks
July 2024
While the list only covers a half-year time period, it can reveal current trends or struggling companies ready for a reversal in fortunes for the contrarian investor.

Ranking Dividend Aristocrats on Both Growth and Yield
May 2024
A high dividend growth rate must be assessed for sustainability, while extremely high dividend yields may signal that the market is expecting a cut in the dividend payment.

Stock Screen All-Stars Appear on Multiple Passing Companies Lists
March 2024
A First Cut that lists stocks passing the greatest number of screens tracked by AAII at the Screening area of AAII.com.

S&P 500 Stocks With the Potential to Outperform in 2024
January 2024
Applying the characteristics of past top-performing stocks to the components of the S&P 500 index at the end of 2023.

Holiday Preview: Stocks That May Benefit From Seasonal Spending
November 2023
Companies that might benefit from approaching holiday spending, include well-known companies and many that are the largest in their respective industries.

Stocks With the Largest Change in Their Earnings Estimates
September 2023
Even slight changes in expectations of future earnings or the earnings growth rate can translate into a significant and lasting impact on stock prices.

Leisure Stocks With Upward Estimate Revisions
August 2023
This month’s Stocks First Cut screens for travel and leisure companies whose earnings estimates have been revised upward over the last month.

Lift off With Rising Dividend-Paying Stocks
May 2023
Rising dividend-paying stocks have historically provided higher cumulative returns with lower levels of volatility than non-dividend-paying stocks over long-term holding periods.

All-Stars: Stocks That Pass Multiple Screens
March 2023
Looking at stocks that pass multiple screening approaches can be valuable if the approaches are based upon solid financial principles and are diverse enough to capture unique yet desirable qualities.

A Sample Pack of Stocks That May Benefit From the Holiday Season
November 2022
With the holidays right around the corner, this month’s First Cut highlights stocks from the retail, food and transportation industries.

Best-Performing S&P 500 Stocks
September 2022
This First Cut seeks to identify the S&P 500 index stocks that have had the highest price change compared to their peers over the last 52 weeks.

Worst-Performing S&P 500 Stocks
September 2022
This First Cut seeks to identify the S&P 500 index stocks that have had the lowest price change compared to their peers over the last 52 weeks.

Tracking the Biggest Positive Earnings Estimate Revisions
August 2022
An upward revision to the consensus estimate is a positive event, but it’s also important to track the percentage of analysts that have made revisions.

Benjamin Graham's Defensive Investor Non-Utility Screen
July 2022
Graham felt that inexperienced investors should confine their holdings to companies that have long histories of profitability, are in a strong financial condition and hold a leading position in their respective industry.

Benjamin Graham's Defensive Investor Utility Screen
July 2022
Benjamin Graham’s approach focused on finding the intrinsic value of a stock. He believed investors should buy stocks whose prices are close to their intrinsic value, and preferably those that are priced lower than their intrinsic value.

High-Yielding Dividend Payers
June 2022
When investing in dividend stocks, your investment criteria should consider more than just the yield.

Up, Up and Away: Biggest Rising Dividend Payers
June 2022
Rising dividend-paying stocks have historically provided higher cumulative returns with lower levels of volatility versus non-dividend-paying stocks over long-term holding periods. 

All-Star Stocks Passing the Most Screens
January 2022
We examined the results of every stock screen and identified the stocks passing more than one strategy.

Thanksgiving Can Mean Family, Football, Turkey, Parade ... & Stocks
November 2021
This First Cut filter is very basic: We screened for exchange-listed stocks with a tie to companies set to benefit from Thanksgiving holiday-related business.

Sweet and Savory Halloween Treats
October 2021
This Stocks First Cut filter is very basic: We screened for exchange-listed stocks with a tie to sweet and savory Halloween treats.

Real Estate Investing Without Purchasing or Managing Property
September 2021
We can construct a universe of equity REITs using AAII’s Stock Investor Pro and build a simple growth screen that requires minimum rates of revenue and dividend growth to narrow down the list.

Guns, Drugs & Warfare: Thematic Investing for Vice Stocks
August 2021
The top alcohol, gaming (gambling), tobacco, cannabis and defense stocks that are passing a growth screen.

Stock MVPs Passing the Most Screens
July 2021
This month’s First Cut Stocks lists those companies passing the greatest number of quantitative screening strategies tracked by AAII.

Karate Chop: Recent Stock Splits
June 2021
This issue's First Cut Stocks seeks out exchange-listed stocks that have undergone a positive stock split over the trailing 12 months. While a stock split is not a reason to buy a stock, it points to recently successful stocks that may be attractive if the fundamental factors that fueled the performance remain good. 

Leisure Stocks With Signs of Life
May 2021
With air travel, hotel bookings and restaurant reservations improving, this Stocks First Cut looks for travel and leisure companies that have recently received upward revisions to their earnings estimates.

Thematic Investing for Virtue Stocks
April 2021
Our starting point for this month’s First Cut is the iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF (DSI), which is based on one of the first socially responsible investing indexes. It invests in large-, mid- and small-cap companies with high ESG ratings to screen on.

Dividend Aristocrats With Longest Streak of Dividend Increases
March 2021
The Dividend Aristocrats strategy has demonstrated a history of weathering market turbulence over time by capturing most of the gains of rising markets and fewer of the losses in falling markets.

Retail Stocks With Strong Momentum and Improving Estimates
November 2020
As the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the trend toward e-commerce and increased spending on items for the home, retail stocks with strong fundamentals may warrant a look.

Recent Stock Splits and Stock Dividends
October 2020
This month’s Stocks First Cut seeks out exchange-listed stocks that have undergone a positive stock split or stock dividend this year.

Finding Future Winners Among Glamour Stocks
September 2020
Using a scoring system to help separate the winners from the losers among stocks trading with high price-to-book-value ratios.

Stocks Meeting the O’Shaughnessy Multi-Factor Approach
August 2020
AAII’s O’Shaughnessy-inspired value composite consists of the price-to-free-cash-flow ratio, price-earnings ratio, price-to-sales ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA ratio, shareholder yield and price-to-book-value ratio.

Biggest Rising Dividend Payers
July 2020
The highest-quality companies have proven their ability to grow their dividends over time, demonstrating an ability to survive through a range of market environments. 

Companies With Fast Cash Burn Rates
June 2020
As important as it is to identify promising stocks, it is equally important, if not more important, to avoid bad ones. One area of consideration is its available cash levels and the rate of cash consumption, which is known as the burn rate.

Graham Stocks With Low Prices Relative to Net Current Assets
May 2020
Graham recommended that a stock be purchased only if the price was two-thirds or less of net current assets.

Stock All-Stars Passing the Most Screens
April 2020
AAII Stock Screens are examined to identify stocks that appear on multiple passing company lists.

Stocks With High Levels of Retained Earnings to Market Cap
March 2020
Looking at the ratio of retained earnings to book value to screen for undervalued stocks.

Dogs of the Dow: A Contrarian High-Yield Approach
January 2020
The Dogs of the Dow is a simple approach for individuals seeking value-oriented, large-cap stocks and a steady source of dividend income.

This Decade’s 10 Biggest S&P 500 Winners
December 2019
With the decade ending soon, we thought it would be interesting to see which companies have experienced the biggest price increase. 

S&P 500 Stocks With High Payout Ratios
November 2019
The 20 stocks that made this issue’s First Cut are among those with the current highest payout ratios in the S&P 500 index.

Stocks With the Highest Shareholder Yield
October 2019
Shareholder yield combines both dividend yield and the buyback yield into a single measure. We identify the 20 stocks with the highest shareholder yields.

Firms Rich in Cash Relative to Stock Price
May 2019
A large cash position is often viewed as providing a significant margin of safety. In this month’s First Cut, we identify 30 stocks with a high level of net cash relative to their share price.

Revisiting the “What Works on Wall Street” Screen
March 2019
O’Shaughnessy helps to find strategies that have the highest “base rate” with the belief that a composite strategy can help achieve both higher and more consistent performance than single-variable strategies.

Companies Surpassing Industry Norms
October 2018 by AAII Staff
These 15 stocks are cheaper than their peers, yet are more profitable and have lower levels of proportionate debt.

Consensus Stocks: Passing the Most Screens
July 2018 by John Bajkowski
The 22 stocks passing four or more AAII Stock Ideas strategies.

Hagstrom's Essential Buffett Stocks
June 2018 by Larry Swedroe
These 25 stocks have characteristics matching Warren Buffett’s approach, as presented by Robert Hagstrom in “The Essential Buffett.”

Charles’ “Buy of the Week” EPS Revision Screen
April 2018 by AAII Staff , AAII Staff
Twenty S&P 1500 member stocks with P/Es below their five-year average high and rising earnings estimates.

Expanding the Driehaus Growth and Momentum Screen
September 2017 by John Bajkowski
The size and earnings surprise requirements on this growth and momentum screen were loosened to identify more stocks with potential upside.

Stocks With Attractive Accrual Ratios
April 2017 by John Bajkowski
The 20 stocks with the least aggressive accounting, as defined by how much cash flow exceeds net income relative to average total assets.

Stocks With the Largest Percentage Change in Earnings Estimates
January 2017 by John Bajkowski
The 15 stocks with the largest positive (and negative) percentage changes to their consensus earnings estimates for the current fiscal year.

Value Stocks With Upward Estimate Revisions
September 2016 by John Bajkowski
These 16 stocks are profitable, have low price-earnings ratios and have rising earnings estimates.

Graham Stocks With a Low Price Relative to Net Current Assets
June 2016 by John Bajkowski
Applying Ben Graham’s philosophy, 25 profitable companies with cheap valuations made The First Cut.

Dreman’s Contrarian Screen
November 2015 by John Bajkowski
The 19 stocks passing AAII’s Dreman Screen, ranked by their price-earnings ratios.

Wiley’s 52-Week Low Strategy
October 2015 by John Bajkowski
Twenty-eight fundamentally strong stocks trading near their 52-week lows.

Stocks With Low Price-to-Book Ratios
September 2015 by John Bajkowski
Profitable companies whose price-to-book ratios rank in the bottom 10% of all stocks.

High Buyback Yields
March 2015 by John Bajkowski
These 25 companies are aggressively repurchasing their stock.

Patrick O’Shaughnessy’s Millennial Investor Strategy
November 2014 by Charles Rotblut, CFA
The 25 best-ranking stocks identified by Patrick O’Shaughnessy’s strategy.

Combining Value and Momentum
July 2013 by John Bajkowski
Low relative valuation ratios are combined with momentum indicators to find potentially winning stocks.

New Edge Stocks
September 2012 by John Bajkowski
Ten stocks with fundamental factors exhibited by typical market winners.

Firms With High Sustainable Growth
April 2012 by John Bajkowski
These 30 companies have high return on equity and high earnings retention rates.

Consensus: Stocks That Pass the Most Screens
January 2012 by John Bajkowski
The 23 stocks that pass four or more of the screens tracked on AAII.com.

Greenblatt’s Magic Formula
December 2011 by John Bajkowski
These 30 stocks had the highest combined ranking based on Joel Greenblatt’s valuation and return on enterprise measures—the two key components of his Magic Formula.

Cash Kings
October 2011 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue’s focus is on finding companies with high levels of net cash per share relative to their share prices.

Relative Strength and Positive Surprises
June 2011 by John Bajkowski
Thirty stocks with improving price momentum, positive earnings surprises and rising earnings estimates.

Thomsett's Fundamental Tests
April 2011 by John Bajkowski
These 30 stocks pass the tests suggested by Michael Thomsett.

Stocks With Low Risk/Reward Scores
July 2010 by John Bajkowski
Using Charles Rotblut’s risk/reward scoring system to find stocks.

Magic Formula Stocks
May 2009 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on Joel Greenblatt's "Magic Formula" for picking stocks: high returns on capital and a low price-to-enterprise value.

Benjamin Graham Bear Market Stocks
April 2009 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on stocks with low prices relative to a firm's net current assets, a basic Benjamin Graham approach to finding stocks trading well below their instrinsic value.

The Outcasts: Stocks Removed From the S&P 500
February 2009 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on stocks possibly neglected due to their removal from the S&P 500 index.

The First Cut: Cash-Rich Firms
November 2008 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on finding companies with high levels of net cash per share relative to their share prices.

The First Cut: Momentum Stocks With Positive Earnings Surprises
October 2008 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on finding companies with positive earnings surprises over the last quarter, coupled with above-average relative price strength.

The First Cut: Stocks With Low Accrual Ratios
September 2008 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on finding companies that actually generate more cash than their accrual earnings indicate by screening for accrual ratios. The accrual ratio is calculated by subtracting free cash flow from net income, dividing the result by total assets and presenting the figure as a percentage.

The First Cut: Real Dogs: Pet-Care Stocks
August 2008 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on finding stocks in the pet-care industry, an area that some investors believe may be "recession-proof."

The First Cut: Dividend Achievers
July 2008 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on finding stocks with the highest long-term dividend growth rate, and stocks with the highest yields.

The First Cut: Using Enterprise Value to Locate Bargains
June 2008 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on finding bargain stocks using a stock's enterprise value to gauge the worth of a company.

The First Cut: S&P 500 Stocks With High Payout Ratios & Below-Average P/Es
May 2008 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on S&P 500 stocks with high dividend payout ratios and below-average price-earnings ratios.

The First Cut: Declining Total Assets and Positive Earnings Surprises
April 2008 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on stocks with the greatest annual decline in total assets, based on a recent research paper suggesting these stocks tend to outperform stocks with the largest increases in total assets.

The First Cut: Positive Surprises With Below-Average P/Es
January 2008 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on stocks with below-average price-earnings ratios whose recent quarterly earnings reports surpassed the consensus forecast.

The First Cut: Hot Technology Stocks
November 2007 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on technology companies with sustainable growth potential.

The First Cut: Socially Responsible GARP
October 2007 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on companies acceptable to many "socially responsible investors" that are profitable and trading at attractive prices relative to expected growth rates.

The First Cut: Low Price Relative to Net Assets
September 2007 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on companies whose stocks are trading at a price that is low relative to their net current assets per share.

The First Cut: Low P/E Relative
August 2007 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on companies with the lowest current P/E relatives versus their five-year average.

The First Cut: Top-Line Growth and Value
July 2007 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on companies with strong and consistent sales growth that they are able to convert into above-average profits, and that remain attractively valued.

The First Cut: Insider Activity
June 2007 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on companies with insider buys that exceeded insider sells over the last six months.

The First Cut: High and Consistent Growth
May 2007 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on exchange-listed stocks that have increased revenue and earnings per share in each of the last five fiscal years.

The First Cut: Low Price-to-Book Firms
April 2007 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue’s focus is on non-financial,exchange-listed stocks with price-to-book-value ratios among the lowest 10% of all stocks.

The First Cut: Investing in Vice
February 2007 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue’s focus is on the 30 stocks with the lowest dividend-adjusted PEG ratios that are in the alcohol, tobacco, or casino/gaming industries.

The First Cut: Revised Earnings Estimates
January 2007 by John Bajkowski
A starting point for investors. This issue’s focus is on the top 30 stocks that have had an upward revision within the past month of their consensus mean estimates for the current and next fiscal year.

Recent Stock Splits
November 2006 by AAII Staff
A starting point for investors. This issue's focus is on the top 30 stocks that have had significant stock splits in the second half of this year, indicating strong price performance.

The First Cut: Defensive Growth
October 2006 by AAII Staff
The top 30 stocks passing a simple screen for companies in defensive industries with attractive PEG ratios and earnings growth momentum.

The First Cut: Positive Earnings Surprises
September 2006 by AAII Staff
The top 30 stocks that have reported quarterly earnings surpassing the consensus.

The First Cut: Cash-Rich Firms
August 2006 by AAII Staff
The top 30 stocks that pass a screen focusing on firms trading with a high level of net cash per share relative to share price.

The First Cut: Attractively Priced Dividend Growth
July 2006 by AAII Staff
The top 30 stocks that pass a screen focusing on mid- to large-cap dividend growers trading at good values.