Top 5 Large-Cap Stocks for March 6

Each business day, TheStreet.com Ratings TheStreet.com Ratings compiles a list of the top five stocks in one of five categories -- fast-growth, all-around value, large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap -- based on data from the close of the previous trading session. Today, large-cap stocks are in the spotlight.

These are stocks of companies with market capitalizations of over $10 billion that rank near the top of all stocks rated by our proprietary quantitative model, which looks at more than 62 factors. In addition, the stocks must be followed by at least one financial analyst who posts estimates on the Institutional Brokers' Estimate System. The stocks are ordered by their potential to appreciate.

Note that no provision is made for off-balance-sheet assets such as unrealized appreciation/depreciation of investments, market value of real estate or contingent liabilities that might affect book value. This could be material for some companies with large underfunded pension plans.

DirecTV (DTV Quote) provides digital television entertainment in the United States and Latin America. We have rated the company a buy since May 2006 due to the company's impressive revenue growth, expanding profit margins, increased cash balance and notable return on equity.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, DirecTV's revenue increased 9% year over year, led by solid subscriber growth and continued ARPU growth in the United States. The company's EPS got a slight boost as a result, rising from 30 cents to 31 cents, despite a drop in net income. Gross profit margin also improved due to the company's revenue growth, expanding 57 basis points to 46.82%. Cash and cash equivalents jumped 82.6% to $2.01 billion, while net operating cash flow increased 8.8%. Return on equity also showed improvement, increasing 847 basis points to 31.22% due to a lower equity base.