CAN SLIM Screening: Discovering the Top EPS Growth Stocks in Tech

 by Pavel Staykov

How do you find the fastest-growing companies in a universe of thousands of stocks?

At the heart of the famous CAN SLIM method, developed by legendary investor William J. O’Neil, is the “C” and “A”: companies showing accelerating quarterly and annual Earnings Per Share (EPS) growth.

Today, I ran a data-driven screen on over 4,000 U.S. stocks in the “Information Technology” sector, applying a strict set of quantitative CAN SLIM rules using my own stock database and a custom Python script. The results highlight the companies with the most impressive and consistent EPS growth trends right now.

Our Top EPS Growth Stocks (CAN SLIM Qualified)

TickerCompany Name     Slope   Q1 2024 EPS   Q1 2025 EPS
APPApplovin Corp     0.17    0.67                    1.67
ITRIItron Inc.   0.17    1.12   1.42
NICENICE Ltd ADR   0.09    1.60   2.01
PSNParsons Corp   0.04    0.37   0.60
FTNTFortinet   0.04    0.39   0.56
ANETArista Networks   0.04    0.50   0.64
TDCTeradata Corp   0.02    0.20   0.45
YMMFull Truck Alliance Co Ltd ADR   0.01    0.08   0.17
PAYPaymentus Holdings Inc   0.01    0.06   0.11

(EPS numbers are for Q1 2024 and Q1 2025, slope is the EPS growth trend over several quarters)


How Did We Find These Companies?

We applied a rigorous, quantitative CAN SLIM filter, step by step:

  • Annual EPS Acceleration (“A” in CAN SLIM):
    Companies had to show annual EPS for 2023 higher than 2022, and 2024 higher than 2023, with at least a 25% jump year over year (including turnarounds from zero or negative earnings).

  • Current Quarterly Growth (“C” in CAN SLIM):
    Q1 2025 EPS had to be at least 25% higher than Q1 2024 EPS. We made sure to use each company’s actual fiscal Q1, not simply the calendar quarter.

  • Linear Regression for Momentum:
    For each company, we calculated the linear regression “slope” of quarterly EPS over the last several quarters, surfacing only those with the strongest positive trends.

What is Linear Regression, and Why Does It Matter?

Linear regression is a statistical method that fits the “best straight line” through a series of data points—in this case, a company’s quarterly earnings per share (EPS). The slope of that line tells us how rapidly (and consistently) a company’s profits are rising or falling over time.
By using linear regression, we can quickly quantify which companies have the steepest, most reliable upward trend in earnings—not just a one-time spike.

This kind of trend analysis has been used by many successful investors, including William J. O’Neil (creator of CAN SLIM), Jesse Livermore, and Richard Driehaus. They all recognized that the best-performing stocks in history often showed powerful, sustained earnings growth before their biggest price advances.

Why Does This Matter?

Finding companies with sustained and accelerating earnings growth is one of the best ways to identify potential leaders before they make their biggest moves. While there’s no guarantee these companies will be tomorrow’s biggest winners, applying CAN SLIM principles in a quantitative, systematic way helps take emotion out of stock selection—and puts the odds in your favor.

Want to Try This Screen for Yourself?

This approach can be run on any database with detailed quarterly and annual EPS, but care must be taken to use the correct fiscal quarters and years for each company. If you want to learn more, see the full code or get help setting this up for your own universe, just reach out in the comments or connect with me!


A softer version of CAN SLIM with annual growth 5% and quarterly growth 18% gives the following list of companies, sorted by the slope of the linear regression line over the quarterly EPS:

 ticker               name  points_used     slope  r_squared  eps_start  eps_end  eps_Q1_2024 eps_Q1_2025

0    IDCC                Interdigital Inc           13     0.241   0.475       0.58     3.45         2.88         3.45

1    FICO                      Fair Isaac           13     0.229   0.834       3.95     6.59         5.16         6.59

2    INTU                          Intuit           14     0.225   0.067       0.35    10.02         8.42        10.02

3     APP                   Applovin Corp           13     0.167   0.902      -0.31     1.67         0.67         1.67

4    ITRI                      Itron Inc.           13     0.166   0.788       0.02     1.42         1.12         1.42

5    FFIV                        F5, Inc.           13     0.152   0.808       0.92     2.48         2.00         2.48

6    NICE                    NICE Ltd ADR           13     0.086   0.886       0.87     2.01         1.60         2.01

7    QLYS                      Qualys Inc           13     0.058   0.863       0.64     1.29         1.05         1.29

8    EEFT           Euronet Worldwide Inc           13     0.056   0.073       0.16     0.85         0.55         0.85

9     PSN                    Parsons Corp           13     0.038   0.807       0.19     0.60         0.37         0.60

10   FTNT                        Fortinet           13     0.037   0.823       0.17     0.56         0.39         0.56

11   ANET                 Arista Networks           13     0.036   0.992       0.21     0.64         0.50         0.64

12   ALRM          Alarm.com Holdings Inc           13     0.035   0.760       0.18     0.52         0.44         0.52

13    ESE         Esco Technologies, Inc.           13     0.030   0.206       0.64     1.20         0.90         1.20

14    ODD                ODDITY Tech Ltd.           13     0.030   0.221       0.05     0.63         0.53         0.63

15   IBEX                        IBEX Ltd           13     0.025   0.426       0.35     0.73         0.57         0.73

16   AMAT               Applied Materials           14     0.024   0.111       2.00     2.63         2.06         2.63

17    TDC                   Teradata Corp           13     0.021   0.212       0.33     0.45         0.20         0.45

18   SPSC               SPS Commerce Inc.           13     0.019   0.692       0.34     0.58         0.48         0.58

19   KARO                    Karooooo Ltd           13     0.015   0.778       0.20     0.44         0.36         0.44

20   EXLS         ExlService Holdings Inc           13     0.012   0.704       0.21     0.40         0.29         0.40

21  YMM  Full Truck Alliance Co Ltd ADR       13     0.012   0.563      -0.03     0.17         0.08         0.17

22    PAY          Paymentus Holdings Inc           13     0.010   0.904       0.01     0.11         0.06         0.11

23   TRAK                 ReposiTrak Inc.           13     0.003   0.751       0.05     0.10         0.08         0.10

24   CINT                        CI&T Inc           13     0.000   0.019       0.04     0.05         0.03         0.05


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