Oracle, McDonald's: Top Five Stocks

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BOSTON (TheStreet) -- These companies have market caps over $10 billion and "buy" ratings from our quantitative model, which considers more than 60 factors. They're ordered based on their potential to appreciate, starting with the company with the best growth prospects.

Oracle(ORCL Quote) sells database and business software.

The numbers: Fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell 7% to $1.9 billion as revenue declined 5% to $6.9 billion. Earnings per share decreased 3% to 38 cents because of its lower share count. Its operating and net margins were little changed at 43% and 28%, respectively. The company has $13 billion of cash reserves, contributing to an impressive quick ratio of 1.9. Its debt-to-equity ratio is conservative at 0.4.

The stock: Oracle has increased 26% this year, beating the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index, but underperforming the Nasdaq. The stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20. The company doesn't consistently pay dividends.

Colgate-Palmolive(CL Quote) makes personal products, such as toothpaste and soap.

The numbers: Second-quarter revenue declined 6% to $3.7 billion, but net income increased 14% to $561 million, or $1.07 a share. The operating margin increased from 21% to 24% and the net margin jumped from 12% to 15%. Colgate-Palmolive has a less-than-ideal liquidity position, with $928 million of cash, amounting to a quick ratio of 0.8. And a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.5 indicates excessive leverage. But the company's focus on consumer staples affords its business a degree of cyclical resilience, which is evident in its seven-quarter streak of earnings growth.

The stock: Colgate-Palmolive has gained 7% this year, underperforming major U.S. indices. The stock trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19 and offers a 2.4% dividend yield, less than the average of S&P 500 companies.