What are we looking for?
Growth among Canada's biggest corporations.
Analysts are expecting members of the S&P/TSX composite index to post an average increase of 21 per cent in share profit this year and a 3-per-cent rise in sales per share.
We want to see which of the largest companies on the index are most likely to be the engines of that expansion.
More about today's screen
This screen lists the 25 stocks among the 253 members of the S&P/TSX composite index that are forecast to post the biggest revenues in the year ahead. We use Bloomberg estimates for net revenue, or sales from continuing operations, for the next 12 months. We then compare that number to actual sales reported for the trailing 12-month period, giving a third figure, the percentage growth expected.
The list doesn't give an exact calendar year comparison, because companies still have to report results for the completed fourth quarter. That means part of the estimates link back to performance in the last three months of 2011. But the screen still gives a good sense of which are expected to be the fastest expanding companies this year among the biggest of the Canadian large caps.
The price-to-earnings ratios are calculated using current stock prices divided by trailing 12-month share profit.
What we found
The stocks are ranked by estimated growth. A mix of resource and financial stocks hold the high ground, with Barrick Gold leading expectations, with forecast growth of 33 per cent. That expansion appears to come at a relatively low price, given that the stock trades at a price-to-earnings multiple of just 11.
Similarly, Canadian Natural Resources, Royal Bank, Sun Life, Agrium, Bank of Montreal and Magna International all trade at price-to-earnings multiples that are lower than, or close to, their forecasted rates of growth.