How to Master Finviz Screener for Growth Stocks [Step-by-Step Guide]
The Finviz screener for growth stocks is fast, free, and widely used, but most investors run it with the wrong filters and end up researching 200 names when 15 would have been enough. This step-by-step guide shows you how to configure the Finviz screener specifically for growth stock discovery, what each filter actually captures, and the three structural gaps you need to fill with a second tool before making any investment decision.
Finviz covers approximately 8,500 U.S.-listed equities. Its screener interface is among the fastest available for initial filtering, and the fundamental tab has enough growth-related metrics to do useful first-pass work.
Key Takeaways
- The Finviz screener for growth stocks works best as a first-pass filter: fast, accessible, sufficient for an initial shortlist of 20 to 40 U.S. names.
- Finviz does not offer ROIC, Piotroski F-Score, or 3-year revenue CAGR, three of the most predictive growth quality indicators available.
- The PE ratio in Finviz uses trailing earnings and can be misleading for high-growth pre-profit companies; always cross-check against forward earnings estimates.
- International exchanges are completely absent from Finviz, regardless of whether you use the free or Elite tier.
- A two-platform workflow, Finviz for speed, ValueMarkers for depth, produces better-qualified shortlists than either tool alone.
- EBITDA, CAGR, EPS, and penny stock definitions all matter when interpreting Finviz results; this guide covers each.
What EBITDA Stands For and Why It Matters in Growth Screening
EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. It measures operating cash generation before capital structure and accounting treatment decisions affect the number. For growth stock screening, EBITDA margin is more useful than net margin because it isolates whether the core business is profitable before the effects of heavy depreciation (common in capital-intensive growth businesses) distort the picture.
Finviz does not offer an EBITDA margin filter in its free tier. You can see EBITDA on individual company quote pages, but you cannot screen by it. This limits Finviz's ability to distinguish between genuine operating profitability and accounting-adjusted earnings in growth names.
The ValueMarkers screener includes EBITDA margin as a filterable indicator, which is useful for identifying growth businesses that are operationally profitable even before reaching GAAP net income positive.
Step 1: Open Finviz Screener and Select the Fundamental Tab
Go to finviz.com and click "Screener" in the top navigation bar. No account is required for the basic version. Once inside the screener, click the "Fundamental" tab, which sits next to "Descriptive" and "Technical."
All growth stock filters for this guide live in the Fundamental tab. Avoid the Technical tab for fundamental growth screening. Moving averages and RSI tell you about price momentum, not business quality.
Step 2: Set Sales Growth Filters
Set "Sales growth qtr over qtr" to "> 10%."
This checks whether the most recent quarter showed at least 10% revenue growth versus the same quarter a year ago. It is a momentum check, not a durability check.
Set "Sales growth past 5 years" to "> 10%."
This checks the five-year compound annual sales growth rate. The combination of both filters targets companies with current momentum built on a durable revenue growth foundation, not just a single strong quarter inflated by a favorable prior-year comparison.
Note that Finviz calculates these from reported data and does not adjust for acquisitions. A company that bought $500M in revenue is not organically growing, even if the sales line jumped 25%. Verify organic growth in the annual report before acting on any screener result.
Step 3: Filter on EPS Growth
Set "EPS growth this year" to "> 15%."
This captures current earnings momentum. Growth in earnings per share above 15% confirms the business is scaling profitably, not just growing revenue at the expense of margins. Microsoft's current EPS growth near 17% and its P/E of 32.1 illustrate the combination: fast earnings growth justifying an above-market multiple.
Set "EPS growth past 5 years" to "> 10%."
The five-year EPS CAGR check confirms the earnings growth trend is structural. A company posting 25% EPS growth in the current year after three years of flat earnings is likely a recovery story, not a growth story. The two-filter combination catches this distinction.
What Does CAGR Stand For and How to Use It
CAGR stands for Compound Annual Growth Rate. It measures how fast a value grew over a multi-year period on an annualized basis, assuming growth compounds each year. A business that grew revenue from $100M to $200M over five years has a revenue CAGR of 14.9%.
CAGR is more informative than cumulative growth because it accounts for the length of the period. In Finviz, the "sales growth past 5 years" and "EPS growth past 5 years" filters are CAGR-based. A 10% CAGR over five years means the business doubled in five years on that metric. A 15% CAGR over five years means it approximately doubled in under five years.
The ValueMarkers screener labels these explicitly as CAGR fields and also provides 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year versions, giving more granular trend analysis than Finviz's fixed 5-year window.
Step 4: Apply Return Quality Filters
Set "Return on equity" to "> +15%."
ROE above 15% indicates the business is generating above-average returns on shareholders' equity. Finviz does not offer a ROIC filter. ROIC is more precise than ROE because it strips out the effect of debt financing on apparent profitability. Apple's ROE of 147% looks extraordinary but is elevated by buybacks reducing book equity. Its ROIC of 45.1% is the more meaningful number.
Without ROIC in Finviz, cross-check high-ROE names carefully. An ROE of 40% or more driven primarily by debt (debt-to-equity above 2.0) is a red flag, not a signal of competitive advantage.
Step 5: Add the Valuation Filter
Set "P/E" to "Under 40."
The PE ratio in Finviz uses trailing twelve-month earnings. For growth companies with rapidly rising earnings, the trailing PE overstates the true valuation: a company earning $2 per share last year but $3 per share this year has a trailing PE of 33 at a $66 stock price, but its forward PE is 22. The trailing PE is misleading by about a third.
Use "Under 40" as a loose ceiling to exclude the most speculative growth names trading at extreme trailing multiples while retaining legitimate growth compounders where forward earnings close the gap.
What Are Penny Stocks and Why They Belong Out of a Growth Screen
Penny stocks are typically defined as shares trading below $5, though the definition varies. Many screeners include them by default if you do not set a price floor or market cap minimum.
Penny stocks fail growth screening criteria in two ways. First, they typically have thin trading liquidity: spreads are wide, volume is low, and large buy or sell orders move the price significantly. Second, they carry higher rates of accounting irregularity, financial distress, and promotional activity. The Piotroski F-Score filter in a capable screener would exclude most of them automatically. In Finviz, set "Price" to "Over $10" in the Descriptive tab to exclude the most illiquid micro-cap names.
Step 6: Set Market Cap Minimum
In the Descriptive tab, set "Market cap" to "Mid ($300M to $2B) or Large (Over $2B)."
This excludes micro-caps and nano-caps where liquidity is insufficient for most individual investors and where information quality in public filings is lower. The mid-cap and large-cap universe on Finviz covers approximately 1,200 to 1,500 U.S. names, a much more manageable starting point.
Complete Finviz Growth Screen Filter Summary
| Filter | Tab | Setting |
|---|---|---|
| Sales growth qtr/qtr | Fundamental | > 10% |
| Sales growth past 5 years | Fundamental | > 10% |
| EPS growth this year | Fundamental | > 15% |
| EPS growth past 5 years | Fundamental | > 10% |
| Return on equity | Fundamental | > +15% |
| P/E | Fundamental | Under 40 |
| Market cap | Descriptive | Mid or Large |
| Price | Descriptive | Over $10 |
This eight-filter combination typically returns 30 to 70 names on U.S. exchanges. Sort by "EPS growth this year" descending to put the fastest current earners at the top.
What Stocks to Buy After Running the Screen
The screen output is a research priority list, not a buy list. After Finviz returns 30 to 70 names, qualify each result:
- Check ROIC. Any name below 12% should be deprioritized regardless of revenue growth.
- Run the Piotroski F-Score. Scores below 5 flag accounting deterioration.
- Verify revenue growth is organic, not acquisition-driven.
Names clearing the screen and trading below DCF fair value are candidates for conviction-sized positions.
What Are the Best Stocks to Buy Right Now
VMCI Scores above 7.0 combined with revenue growth above 15% and ROIC above 15% in the ValueMarkers screener produce approximately 20 to 30 global compounders as of April 2026. That is the closest a rules-based screen gets to a current best-ideas list.
Further reading: SEC Investor.gov · FINRA
Why finviz growth stocks tutorial Matters
This section anchors the discussion on finviz growth stocks tutorial. The detailed treatment, formula, and worked examples appear in the body of this article above. The points below summarize the most important takeaways for value investors who want to apply finviz growth stocks tutorial in real portfolio decisions. ValueMarkers exposes the underlying data on every covered ticker via the screener and stock profile pages, so the concepts in this article translate directly into actionable filters.
Key inputs for finviz growth stocks tutorial
See the main discussion of finviz growth stocks tutorial in the sections above for the full treatment, including the inputs, the calculation methodology, the typical sector benchmarks, and the most common pitfalls to avoid. The ValueMarkers screener lets value investors filter the full universe of 100,000+ stocks across 73 exchanges using finviz growth stocks tutorial alongside the rest of the 120-indicator composite, with sector percentiles and historical trends shown on every stock profile.
Sector benchmarks for finviz growth stocks tutorial
See the main discussion of finviz growth stocks tutorial in the sections above for the full treatment, including the inputs, the calculation methodology, the typical sector benchmarks, and the most common pitfalls to avoid. The ValueMarkers screener lets value investors filter the full universe of 100,000+ stocks across 73 exchanges using finviz growth stocks tutorial alongside the rest of the 120-indicator composite, with sector percentiles and historical trends shown on every stock profile.
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- Sgbx Yahoo Finance — related ValueMarkers analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
what does ebitda stand for
EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. It measures core operating cash generation before financing costs and non-cash charges are deducted. For growth stock investors, EBITDA margin isolates whether the business model is operationally profitable before heavy reinvestment costs distort the net income line.
what stocks to buy
The best stocks to buy are businesses that clear a rigorous quality and growth screen and still trade below intrinsic value. The Finviz screen here narrows the field to 30 to 70 U.S. candidates. Adding ROIC, Piotroski F-Score, and VMCI Score in the ValueMarkers screener typically narrows that to 8 to 15 names worth deep research.
what are penny stocks
Penny stocks are shares trading below $5, often below $1 on OTC markets. They carry thin liquidity, wide bid-ask spreads, and higher incidence of accounting irregularities. They are excluded from this screen through the market cap minimum and the price floor above $10 set in Step 6.
what does cagr stand for
CAGR stands for Compound Annual Growth Rate. It measures the annual rate at which a value grew over a multi-year period, assuming compounding each year. A 10% revenue CAGR over five years means the business roughly doubled revenue in that period. The "sales growth past 5 years" filter in Finviz uses a 5-year CAGR calculation.
what are the best stocks to buy right now
Run the eight-filter Finviz screen, then qualify results with ROIC and Piotroski F-Score in the ValueMarkers screener. Names that survive both layers with VMCI Scores above 7.0 and prices below DCF fair value are the strongest candidates. The process is the answer, not a static list.
what is eps in stocks
EPS stands for Earnings Per Share: net income divided by diluted shares outstanding. Growth investors track EPS growth rate, not just the level, because accelerating EPS signals that profitability is scaling faster than dilution. A company with 25% EPS growth at a P/E of 32 is growing into its valuation rapidly; one with 5% EPS growth at the same P/E is not.
Set up the eight-filter screen in Finviz, export the results, then bring them into the ValueMarkers screener to add ROIC, Piotroski F-Score, and VMCI Score. Your research list starts where both screens agree.
Written by Javier Sanz, Founder of ValueMarkers. Last updated April 2026.
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