22 S&P 500 Stocks with Explosive Sales Growth and Improving Margins

Micron Technology grew quarterly sales per share 373% year over year, topping a FactSet screen of S&P 500 companies that combined rapid revenue growth with widening gross margins, expanding operating margins and improving free cash flow this earnings season.

The screen, run through Tuesday's close, started from the 500 index constituents and cut them in three steps. First, it narrowed the list to 285 companies whose quarterly gross profit margins had widened from a year earlier — a measure of pricing power and core efficiency. A second cut kept only the 240 companies that also improved operating margins, which fold in overhead and other expenses beyond production. A third step, added this quarter amid concerns about heavy spending on AI-infrastructure buildout, kept the 151 companies with positive free cash flow per share that also increased from the year-earlier quarter.

Among those 151 names, 22 posted increases in quarterly sales per share of at least 50% from a year earlier. Through Tuesday, 90% of the S&P 500 had reported results for fiscal quarters ended Aug. 15 or later.

Which companies made the list?

The top of the table is dominated by memory and storage names. Micron leads with 373% sales-per-share growth, an 86.76% gross margin and $28.65 in free cash flow per share. Sandisk follows at 362% growth with an 85.01% gross margin and $40.97 in FCF per share. Texas Pacific Land ranks third at 304% growth, with margins above 80% on both measures.

Other notable qualifiers:

• Nvidia — sales per share up 108%, gross margin 74.98%, FCF per share $0.88, for the fiscal quarter ended July 26
• Palantir Technologies — up 96%, gross margin 83.43%, FCF per share $0.46
• Broadcom — up 84%, operating margin 61.79%, FCF per share $2.80, for the quarter ended Aug. 2
• AppLovin — up 58%, the widest gross margin on the list after the table's top rows at 88.36%, with FCF per share of $4.27
• Marathon Petroleum — up 77%, FCF per share $34.30, up from $5.47 a year earlier

The full list also includes TKO Group, Lumentum Holdings, Teradyne, Amphenol, Vertiv, Monolithic Power Systems, Seagate Technology, Valero Energy, Quanta Services, Lam Research, Comfort Systems USA, Western Digital and Phillips 66.

The screen used sales per share rather than raw revenue because per-share figures capture both dilution from new stock issuance and reductions in share count from buybacks. A falling share count also lifts earnings per share.

Nvidia and Broadcom appear with older quarters because their current results aren't out yet — Nvidia reports its October-ending quarter on Nov. 17.

Why did the screen exclude CoreWeave and Dell?

The screen's cash-flow filter knocked out some of the market's fastest growers. CoreWeave, which isn't an S&P 500 component, reported Tuesday after the close that third-quarter revenue jumped 168% from a year ago to $366 billion — $3.66 billion — sending the stock up more than 15% in premarket trading Wednesday. It still wouldn't have passed: its gross margin narrowed from a year earlier and cash flow was negative.

CoreWeave investors have worried about the cloud provider's high debt. CEO Michael Intrator addressed those concerns on Tuesday while discussing a plan to lower borrowing costs. Through Tuesday, the stock was down 32% for 2026 and 65% from its May 6 intraday high.

Three S&P 500 members failed only the cash-flow test:

• Super Micro Computer — first-quarter fiscal 2027 net sales of $19.9 billion, up from $5 billion; sales per share up 252% with improved margins, but FCF was negative 63 cents a share
• Bloom Energy — sales per share up 72% with improved margins, but FCF was negative 56 cents a share
• Dell Technologies — revenue of $47 billion, up 58%; sales per share up 65%, but FCF per share dropped 44% to $1.51

The screen, built on FactSet data, offers long-term investors an initial quality filter for soaring-revenue stocks — one that separates AI-era growers funding themselves from those still burning cash to build.