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This article is the final article in this series on the major sectors of the S&P 500, and a follow-up of sorts from my last article on the S&P 500 Utilities Sector. Telecommunication Services is the smallest sector of the S&P 500 index with only 5 constituents. And similar to the Utilities Sector, but perhaps even more so, it is a rapidly-evolving industry.

This article will review 10 fast growing stocks that we feel are in the sweet spot for investors interested in above average total return. In order to be considered a fast-growing company, the stock has to have demonstrated a consistent rate of change of earnings growth of between 15%-25%. We consider this the sweet spot, because we believe that these rates of earnings growth are achievable over extended periods, for well-managed above average growing companies.

If an investor is going to successfully invest in common stocks over their lifetime, there are three important questions that must be correctly answered. What to invest in? When to invest? When to sell?

This is part 3 of a series where I have conducted a simple screening looking for value over the overall market based on industry classifications and subindustry classifications reported by FactSet Research Systems, Inc

In part 1 I covered a model portfolio that was built on August 24, 2021, with the primary objective of generating a higher level of current income safely.

UGI Corp. operates as a holding company that engages in the distribution, storage, transport, and marketing of energy products and services. It operates through the following segments: AmeriGas Propane; UGI International; Midstream and Marketing; and UGI Utilities. The AmeriGas Propane segment consists of the propane distribution business of AmeriGas Partners, L.P.

Let’s kick things off with the basics. A common size financial statement is a version of a company’s financial report where each line item is expressed as a percentage of a base figure.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs, aka Mr. Valuation, is going to take a deep dive into Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE), two of the biggest pharmaceutical companies out there. Chuck is also going to address whether one is a better investment than the other, but also whether we should even be investing in one, both, or none, that’s what research is all about. In addition to this, before you lay your money down you want to conduct a comprehensive research and due diligence process, Chuck will talk about that as well.

Lockheed Martin produced a mixed Q3 2021 financial report. Non-GAAP Earnings beat estimates by $0.13 and GAAP earnings beat estimates by $0.22. However, the company’s revenues were short and management guided future revenue growth lower. The market’s reaction was severe with one pundit producing the headline: “Lockheed Martin plunges on bearish revenue guidance; to reassess five-year plan.” With this video I will illustrate why I believe the market overreacted bringing this Dividend Contender with its 19-year streak of increasing its dividend into fair value range.

Starbucks could be categorized as a growth stock, a dividend stock, and a dividend growth stock. In this video I will illustrate the fiscal strength and opportunity available with investing in this juggernaut. In the past I have suggested that you cannot pay too much to invest in a true growth stock if you are willing to hold it long enough. When often saying that, I use Starbucks as a quintessential example. However, with that said, being able to invest in this true growth stock at a bargain price is a truly exceptional opportunity.

I find it serendipitous that after just completing a 19-part series on how highly valued the general market is, I get the pause that refreshes. Now please don’t read more into my words than are being offered. I still believe that the market at large is fully valued. Consequently, finding great companies at great values is still rare and hard to do. However, after Monday’s swoon, we are finally (at least I am) starting to see some value coming into focus on some of my favorite companies. 3M is one of them. Therefore, I can finally feature some of my favorite companies that have become good value choices.

In this video, Part 2 of 3, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs, a.k.a. Mr. Valuation will go over how you can calculate and assess intrinsic value (fair value) based on the future expectations of the growth of any stock you are looking at for long-term investment success.

Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) stock price has fallen approximately 13% since the beginning of the year. However, operating earnings are expected to increase modestly while operating cash flow is expected to increase 45% or more after dropping 1% in 2020 and 9% in 2022. Nevertheless, JNJ’s dividend is well covered and the company’s balance sheet contains enough cash and short-term investments to cover any contingent liabilities from several lawsuits on talcum powder and opioids.

Today’s video on Information Technology companies is another in the continuing series of videos where we are looking for value in each of the 10 major sectors as reported by Standard & Poor’s. This particular video is going to be on the Technology Sector. We are looking for value in Information Technology companies because we are still in a strong bull market that has been not only one of the longest on record, but also has seen the S&P 500 get to one of its lofty valuations ever.

Many people see the stock market as a casino, but according to Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs and “Mr. Valuation,” the truth is far more rational. How does the stock market work? The market isn’t about luck — it’s a mechanism for allocating capital and rewarding disciplined investors who understand value.

Investing is a numbers game, and at the beginning it can be very daunting. One wrong move and a great deal could be lost in the blink of an eye, so knowing how to avoid disaster is paramount to success. However, that is easier said than done. Having the proper tools and knowledge is the first step forward in an investing career, and a great way to ensure that you stay ahead of the game.

In today’s video, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs, a.k.a. Mr. Valuation is going to look at how to calculate the intrinsic value of a common stock and why it is so important to long-term investing success.

The stock market how it works is best understood not as a casino or a game of chance, but as a rational mechanism for allocating capital. It provides a platform where ownership in public businesses is bought and sold. At its core, the share market how it works is a real-time reflection of investors’ collective judgment about value, opportunity, and risk.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs, takes a deep dive into what he calls the single most important factor for long-term investing success: the ability to forecast future earnings growth. While past performance matters, it’s really what lies ahead that determines whether a stock will generate wealth or disappointment. Through detailed examples, Chuck demonstrates why valuation, earnings, and cash flow are inseparable from forecasting, and why investors who master this discipline will always have an edge.

I find it very interesting that Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) after going public in 2001, did not generate their first profit until December 2008. As we all know, this was in the throes of what is now known as the Great Recession of 2008. Moreover, Alexion’s adjusted operating earnings have grown from $0.20 per share in $2008 to $10.53 by 2019 representing an outstanding 43.72% compound annualized growth rate. Therefore, based on historical operating results since the company turned profitable, Alexion Pharmaceuticals represents a quintessential example of a true growth stock.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs, a.k.a. Mr. Valuation will go over what is the correct discount rate to use to determine NPV of a stock. One of the most widely accepted methods for valuing a business in today’s world of modern finance is the discounted cash flow analysis. To calculate valuation, you must rely on mathematical formulas, however, the challenge with utilizing mathematical formulas to determine the net present value of a future stream of income is in determining the proper inputs.

If you are interested in investing in a high quality large pharmaceutical company, two of your primary choices would be Pfizer (PFE) or Merck (MRK), of course, Merck being the largest. Which one of these investments would suit you better as an investor?

Oracle (ORCL) was founded in 1977 and today is one of the largest enterprise grade database, middleware and application software providers in technology. Although the company has been slow to adopt cloud computing, it has expanded its operations in recent years. Today the company offers cloud solutions and services that customers can use to both build and manage a variety of cloud development models.

To me, fair value, as it relates to common stock investments, is manifest when the current earnings yield provided by the company’s profits compensates me for the risk I am taking by providing both a realistic and acceptable return on my invested capital. Most importantly, as will be explained later, current earnings yield and its relevance to fair value is independent and/or separate from future growth.

One of the most commonly asked questions I receive from investors is: how many stocks should I put in my portfolio? This is a widely debated subject that is most commonly referred to as concentrated versus widely diversified portfolio construction. Of course, the widely diversified camp likes holding a lot of stocks and therefore often support investing in indexes. Many mutual funds and ETF’s also hold widely diversified portfolios. In contrast, renowned investors such as Charlie Munger prefer highly concentrated portfolios. Furthermore, as I will discuss in greater detail later, studies have indicated that a portfolio with 12-18 stocks provides most of the benefit that diversification can provide.

This Communications Services Sector is the first in a series of 11 videos where I will cover each of the 11 sectors looking for value. There are somewhere between 18,000 to 20,000 stocks comprising the US and Canadian stock markets. With this series I have screened for investment-grade stocks in each sector that appear to be attractively valued. In the Communication Services Sector, there are approximately 500 constituents. However, only 90 of them have investment grade credit ratings of BBB- or better. Of those 90, only 11 are trading at rational valuations. In this video I present each of those research candidates.

The debate of value stocks vs growth stocks is one of the most common in investing. Many investors struggle to understand which approach delivers better returns or lower risk. In reality, both strategies have distinct characteristics, advantages, and limitations. By focusing on fundamentals, valuation, and growth potential, investors can identify opportunities that align with their goals by using FAST Graphs, regardless of the label.

NMF stands for No Meaningful Figure, which basically means the program calculated something, but the value calculated has no meaning in this context.In terms of a growth rate, it could mean that there was a negative or zero value involved in the calculation and, as such, the answer has no meaning.

FFO (Funds From Operations) and AFFO (Adjusted Funds From Operations) are metrics utilized to evaluate Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). When a REIT is being graphed on FAST Graphs, the tool will automatically replace the cash flow metric with the options FFO and AFFO. Note that AFFO data is a relatively new metric and therefore, you will not find as much historical data when utilizing AFFO.

OGE Energy is a utility stock, and utility stocks should be primarily thought of as income investments. To a certain extent they can be considered as bond alternatives. Not bond replacements, instead, an alternative income producing asset that has advantages and disadvantages over fixed income and common stocks in general.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs, aka Mr. Valuation discusses Dividend Aristocrat Community Financial System Inc. (CBU) as a strong investment candidate for retired or income-focused investors. CBU is a Dividend Aristocrat that has increased its dividend for 32 consecutive years. Chuck emphasizes that such income-generating stocks can serve as a hedge against inflation by providing growing dividends over time, helping retirees maintain their standard of living.

FAST Graphs receives all of our data from S&P Capital IQ. This includes the dividend yield which we pulled directly from S&P Capital IQ. The following screenshot shows the section where we pull dividend yield on LAZ. As you can see, they are reporting the dividend yield of 5.7%, which is what we are showing on FAST Graphs.

Should You Invest? The S&P 500 is often recommended as the default choice for individual investors. While it has delivered strong long-term results, today’s valuations and concentration raise important questions about whether it suits every investor’s goals.

The Artificial Intelligence boom has created one of the most powerful growth cycles in market history. Yet the biggest AI names—NVIDIA, Microsoft, Broadcom, and others—now trade at extremely high valuations, offering low earnings yields and limited margin of safety.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs, a.k.a. Mr. Valuation will go over 10 value stocks with low debt and strong growth with very consistent operating histories over time, but best of all, they are in value today.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs, aka Mr. Valuation, evaluates three major defense companies—General Dynamics (GD), Lockheed Martin (LMT), and RTX (formerly Raytheon/United Technologies)—through the lens of FAST Graphs, a fundamentals-based research tool. He emphasizes that this analysis should be just the beginning of deeper due diligence.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs, aka Mr. Valuation revisits Elevance Health (formerly Anthem), an undervalued long-term opportunity, a major U.S. for-profit health insurer. Chuck argues that recent declines in ELV’s stock price—down nearly 50% since September 2024—are a significant overreaction to modest earnings pressure, particularly from government programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act.

Truist Financial Corporation is a purpose-driven financial services company committed to inspiring and building better lives and communities. Truist has leading market share in many high-growth markets in the country. The Company offers a wide range of services. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Truist is a top 10 U.S. commercial bank. Truist Bank, Truist’s largest subsidiary, was chartered in 1872 and is the oldest bank headquartered in North Carolina. Truist Bank provides a wide range of banking and trust services for clients through 2,123 offices as of December 31, 2022 and its digital platform.

When I first began my journey in the world of investing, I was driven by a simple yet profound question: how can I earn money from the stock market? Over the years, I’ve discovered that this question lies at the heart of every investor’s ambition—whether they’re just starting out or have decades of experience.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs a.k.a Mr. Valuation will be sharing four growth stocks that he found using our FAST Graphs Premium Preset Screens in our Screening Tool.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs, aka Mr. Valuation, discusses the principles of value investing and how understanding a company’s intrinsic value is key to making sound investment decisions. He emphasizes that Stocks To Buy Today at their fair value or below reduces risk and ensures long-term profitability. Chuck explains that a company’s intrinsic value is derived from its cash flows and earnings, and using a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 15 provides a reasonable benchmark for fair value.

The DuPont Analysis is a fundamental framework that breaks down a company’s Return on Equity (ROE) into its core drivers: profitability, efficiency, and leverage. Originally developed by the DuPont Corporation, this method helps investors understand why a company earns what it does—not just what it earns. By dissecting ROE into meaningful parts, the DuPont analysis gives value investors a clearer picture of performance quality and financial structure. It’s a timeless tool in fundamental analysis, but as we’ll see, it must be applied with care and context to avoid misleading conclusions.

Financial statement analysis is the process of reviewing and interpreting a company’s financial information—including the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement—to evaluate its performance and value. While management uses it to guide operations, investors rely on this analysis of financial statements to uncover strengths, weaknesses, and long-term potential. In this article, we focus on analyzing financial information from an investor’s perspective.

If you’ve ever asked yourself how to invest in stocks, the first step is usually mechanical. You begin by opening a brokerage account with a reputable firm such as Fidelity, Schwab, or another online broker. Once the account is active, placing orders is straightforward—you simply decide how much money you want to commit and how many shares you can afford. Yet the actual process of purchasing shares is the easy part. What matters far more is developing the skill to choose the right companies and understanding when it makes sense to buy, hold, or sell.

In this video Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs will go over FUN Graphs.

Hello, fellow investors! Chuck Carnevale here—many know me as Mr. Valuation. Today, I want to walk you through the Discounted Dividend Method (DDM) in clear, straightforward language. Let’s take a closer look at this widely used tool for making informed, intelligent investment decisions.

In this Primer On Valuation, Part 1 of 3, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs, a.k.a. Mr. Valuation will cover slow growing companies, and discuss why value investing is so important no matter what your investment strategy is, no matter what your goals or objectives are. Chuck believes everyone ought to be practicing value investing.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale—co-founder of FAST Graphs and known as Mr. Valuation—explains why investors should avoid paying premium prices for stocks, why buying overvalued stocks Is risky – even when the businesses themselves are high quality. His central question: why buy an overvalued stock with average growth prospects when you can buy a fairly valued or undervalued stock with equal or better growth potential?

There are several factors that will cause financial websites to report different P/E ratios. For starters, you must be cognizant of the specific earnings metric that is being utilized. Many sites will utilize diluted (GAAP) earnings when they do the calculation.

When it comes to investing in the stock market, one question towers above all others: What is a stock really worth? This is the essence of stock valuation, the process of determining the intrinsic value of a company’s shares. As investors, our goal is to buy stocks when they are undervalued and sell when they are overvalued. But how do we know what “value” truly means? Let’s dig into the heart of company stock valuation and why it matters so much for your long-term financial success.

According to Amgen (AMGN) 2022 10K,“Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people’s lives. A biotechnology pioneer, Amgen has grown to be one of the world’s leading independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.”

The P/E ratio, or Price-to-Earnings ratio, is one of the most widely used metrics for valuing a stock. It helps investors assess whether a stock is undervalued, overvalued, or fairly priced, particularly when considered alongside the company’s expected growth rate. It’s also useful for comparing a stock’s valuation with peers or the broader market.

Charles Carnevale attended the University of Tampa in the 1970s, and while at UT, his economics professor presented a thesis that stated, “Earnings determine the market price of a publicly traded company in the long run.” This idea lodged itself in Chuck’s mind and became his life’s work.

John Deere (DE) and Caterpillar (CAT) are both well-known companies that have been around for decades. John Deere was founded in 1837 while Caterpillar was founded in 1925, just two years shy of its 100-year in existence. These two companies have been through the Great Depression of the 1920s, the second world war, the Korean War, Vietnam War, the high inflationary period in the 1970s, the Gulf War, the dotcom bubble, the Great Financial Crisis, and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic. And the key takeaway is this: they both survived all these, and continue to thrive, and they are likely to continue to thrive in future.

Nvidia has been the star of the market over the past few years — a powerhouse that has reshaped artificial intelligence, gaming, and high-performance computing. Is Nvidia still a buy? With its stock price reaching seemingly gravity-defying heights, many investors are asking: is there still room to run, or is this as good as it gets?

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs and known as Mr. Valuation, takes a deep look at FactSet Research Systems (FDS) — time to buy? The company that provides data to FAST Graphs itself. FactSet has always been known as a high-quality, consistent business, but Chuck uses it to illustrate an important investing truth:

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, co-founder of FAST Graphs, dives deep into Comcast (CMCSA) to evaluate whether today’s low stock price represents risk or opportunity.