STOCK PICKS: Top 5 Fast-Growth for Aug. 11

Looking ahead to the second quarter of fiscal year 2009, Airgas anticipates its EPS to range from 82 cents to 84 cents per share. For the full fiscal year 2009, the company raised the lower end of its EPS forecast to a range of $3.30 to $3.40 per share from its previous guidance of $3.24 to $3.40 per share. While the company has a high leverage level, we feel its strengths outweigh the fact that it has had generally poor debt management on most measures that we evaluated.

Flowserve Corporation(FLS Quote) engages in the development, manufacture and sale of precision-engineered flow equipments through 3 divisions: Flowserve Pump, Flow Control, and Flow Solutions. The company operates worldwide in more than 56 countries, with 43% of its revenue coming from North America.

We have rated Flowserve a buy since January 2007 based on several positive investment measures, such as the company's increasing revenue and net income. On July 30, the company reported that its net earnings for the second quarter of fiscal year 2008 increased 94.4% year over year to $122.86 million from $63.21 million, attributable to increased sales in the Flowserve Pump, up 21.0% year over year, Flow Control, up 30%, and Flow Solutions, up 29%, divisions. Revenue in the quarter increased 24.4% to $1.16 billion from $930.68 million a year ago, driven by strong growth in the power and chemical markets, as well as continued strength in the oil and gas market. The revenue result for the latest quarter included currency benefits of about $85 million. Furthermore, earnings per share increased 91.9% to $2.13 per share from $1.11 per share a year ago.