Buffett's advice is sensible, of course -- and doubly so for investors who buy growth stocks for long-term capital appreciation. Why? For one thing, companies with fast-rising earnings tend to be expensive as investors extrapolate past performance. Also, highly profitable companies attract competition, and that often turns lush margins into sawdust. Last, as I've written about extensively, just because a company is profitable in the traditional sense of the word doesn't mean it has authentic earnings power. For these reasons, today's investment peacock may be tomorrow's feather duster.

So what does the future hold for Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH - commentary - Cramer's Take), the top-ranked firm on Forbes' most recent 200 Best Small Companies list? On the basis of my Five-Minute Test, the information technology outsourcer gets high marks in eight of nine preliminary tests. Now it's time to gauge earnings quality.

What you can see in the following chart is a steady gain in accrual profits for the five years ending Dec. 31, 2002 -- an impressive performance to be sure. On a defensive basis, however, profits peaked in 2000 and have declined in each of the last two years. As for the enterprising profit-and-loss statement, the trend is up, although 2002's results weren't as tightly correlated to accrual profits as in previous years. (Ideally, defensive and enterprising profits will rise in lock step with the GAAP figure contained in the annual report and 10-K.)