Five Winning Stocks

The most compelling aspect here is still the earnings upside for this driller. Where else do you find an $11 billion market value stock with 55% growth potential? Consensus EPS estimates grow from $8.20 in 2007 to $12.79 in 2008. Even if these numbers get adjusted downward for additional incremental shipyard time, we are still looking at well-above-market earnings growth rates.

Last month, the stocks in this group benefited from the announcement that Hercules Offshore(HERO Quote) would acquire Todco (TDO Quote). This really helped owners of Pride International (PDE Quote), who are expecting to see more rational competition as a result of the acquisition.

With significant upside earnings potential and asset-value based downside protection, look for DO to make up for lost ground. The company is expected to release earnings on April 26.

• Cerner (CERN Quote) (Health care)

This is another stock we have had a buy on for the last two years. During that time, the stock has doubled. It is a long-term play on health care technology.

Companies in the health care technology industry have tremendous growth potential over the coming years. The drivers of this growth will be the expected jump in the elderly population due to baby boomers heading into their retirement years and also the need of the health care community to fully comply with federal and state regulations (i.e., HIPAA). Demand for more efficient ways to process medical information can only grow; this makes upgrades in patient care technology and health information processing a must.

The ability to streamline the medical process and measure individual or enterprise-wide medical outcomes is essential for health care providers to eliminate errors. Building and supporting management information systems that track patients and program members is CERN's main focus. The company also offers consulting and educational services.

Consensus estimates call for a 25% increase in EPS from $1.70 in 2007 to $2.12 in 2008. The company expects to release earnings on April 20.

As shown here, investing by the numbers using TheStreet.com Ratings can help you spot potential winners to buy, undervalued companies to hold and dogs to sell. Use this link to review our opinion on each of your portfolio holdings.