Top Five Fast-Growth Stocks: April 14

We have rated this company a buy since September 2004, based on its revenue growth, solid financial position, EPS improvement and solid stock performance. Revenue rose 49% year over year for the fourth quarter of 2007 to $121.6 million. Atwood's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.03, implying that successful debt management. During the past fiscal year, the company increased its bottom line by earning $4.37 a share vs. $2.75 a share in the previous year. Atwood has demonstrated a pattern of positive EPS growth over the past two years. The stock has surged 72% over the past year, powered by its strong earnings growth of 128%.

Although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, Atwood should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already seen a substantial gain in the past year. Risks to the rating include any pricing fluctuations in the oil and gas industry, the company's ability to secure adequate financing, and governmental regulation and environmental matters.

América Movil (AMOV Quote) is the largest wireless company in Latin America. The company provides a number of wireless and data services, including short message service (SMS), multimedia message service (MMS), mobile connection, localization services, internet access and BlackBerry service. It began in September 2000 through a spinoff from Telmex (Teléfonos de México). América Movil has grown from having operations Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, and the U.S. to serving 153.4 million subscribers in 17 countries. The company's services operate under various brand names, such as Telcel, Claro, CTI Movil, Comcel, Codetel, PRT, and Porta.

Our buy rating for América Movil has not changed since April 2005. Strengths include robust revenue growth, notable return on equity (ROE) and impressive EPS growth. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007, revenue rose 25% year over year. This growth appears to have helped boost EPS, which improved 43%. In fact, the company has demonstrated a pattern of positive EPS growth over the past 2 years. Current ROE exceeded the result from the year-ago quarter, which we see as a clear sign of strength within the company. Finally, net income increased to $1.52 billion from $1.04 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Powered by strong earnings growth and other factors, this stock has surged 32% over the past year. Although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, we feel that the company's strengths outweigh its poor debt management, and therefore we believe that the stock should move higher despite its nice gain.

América Movil (AMX Quote) is the New York Stock Exchange equivalent of AMOV, which is traded on NASDAQ. This stock represents the company's L series shares, which make up 65% of the company's capital but are non-voting shares. By contrast, the AMOV stock represents the company's A series of voting shares.

This stock has been rated a buy since June 2004. Refer to the section above for details on the company's performance.

Our quantitative rating is based on a variety of historical fundamental and pricing data and represents our opinion of a stock's risk-adjusted performance relative to other stocks.

However, the rating does not incorporate all of the factors that can alter a stock's performance. For example, it doesn't always factor in recent corporate or industry events that could affect the stock price, nor does it include recent technology developments and competitive dynamics that may affect the company.

For those reasons, we believe that a rating alone cannot tell the whole story and that it should be part of an investor's overall research.