US: 30 candidates
US-listed companies worth $2bn or more that report under US GAAP, excluding financials, REITs and utilities. Figures from SEC filings (latest twelve months; F-score from the last two fiscal years); market value from today's price. Ranked from the lowest EV/EBIT: what it would cost to buy the whole company including its debt (enterprise value = market value + debt − cash), as a multiple of its operating profit. Lower is cheaper. It is like a P/E ratio, but counts debt and cash and uses operating profit, which interest and one-off items distort less. Only companies with a Piotroski F-score of 7 or more out of 9. The F-score counts nine checks: profitable, positive cash flow, and profits, balance sheet and efficiency improving on the year before. In the past tests, this was the only method compared that beat the market in all four (two periods each in Japan and the US). Return on capital (Greenblatt's definition: operating profit ÷ (net working capital + net fixed assets)) and warning signs are shown for reference. A company joins at rank 30 or better and stays until it falls below 50.
| # | Company | EV/EBIT | F-score | Return on capital | PER | PBR | Warnings | Why it may be cheap (AI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Par Pacific Holdings, Inc.PARR · NYSE | 3.9x | 6/7 | 61% | 4.6x | 1.97x | Possible one-off profit | Refining margins swing wildly and profits were lifted by a one-off regulatory gain, so the market doubts current earnings will repeat. |
| 2 | Comcast CorpCMCSA · Nasdaq | 4.3x | 6/7 | 28% | 6.9x | 0.86x | — | Investors treat Comcast as a legacy broadband and pay-TV firm whose core subscriber base keeps shrinking despite wireless growth. |
| 3 | Gap IncGAP · NYSE | 4.4x | 7/9 | 54% | 6.5x | 2.04x | — | Low entry barriers, tariff costs, and an unfinished turnaround in apparel retail keep investors wary despite strong headline profits. |
| 4 | Academy Sports & Outdoors, Inc.ASO · Nasdaq | 5.4x | 8/9 | 49% | 7.6x | 1.37x | Shrinking | Market doubts earnings durability given Academy's Southern US concentration and tariff-driven consumer spending pressure, capping its valuation. |
| 5 | Stride, Inc.LRN · NYSE | 5.9x | 7/7 | 79% | 9.4x | 1.95x | Share dilution | Dependence on per-pupil government funding and lawsuits from charter-school opponents keep this for-profit online education firm under a market discount. |
| 6 | Macy's, Inc.M · NYSE | 6.2x | 7/8 | 20% | 8.0x | 1.22x | — | Macy's ongoing closure of unproductive stores keeps the market viewing it as a structurally declining department-store chain, not worth re-rating. |
| 7 | EXPAND ENERGY CorpEXE · Nasdaq | 6.5x | 7/8 | 15% | 7.1x | 1.02x | Possible one-off profitShare dilution | Volatile natural gas prices and a still-digesting merger keep the market cautious on this producer. |
| 8 | Cognizant Technology Solutions CorpCTSH · Nasdaq | 7.3x | 7/8 | 88% | 11.5x | 1.70x | — | Clients keep insourcing IT work via their own global capability centers, so the market doubts Cognizant can hold pricing power. |
| 9 | Signet Jewelers LtdSIG · NYSE | 7.4x | 6/7 | 46% | 11.2x | 2.16x | Shrinking | Unit sales keep falling even as gold-driven prices rise, and heavy reliance on consumer credit makes discretionary jewelry demand look fragile. |
| 10 | Universal Health Services IncUHS · NYSE | 7.4x | 7/8 | 25% | 6.9x | 1.39x | — | Heavy dependence on Medicare/Medicaid and a persistent regulatory-litigation overhang keep the market from rewarding UHS's solid earnings. |
| 11 | Maximus, Inc.MMS · NYSE | 7.4x | 6/7 | 58% | 7.4x | 1.57x | — | Heavy reliance on government clients whose payment delays force more borrowing keeps investors wary despite solid profits. |
| 12 | PayPal Holdings, Inc.PYPL · Nasdaq | 7.7x | 8/8 | 128% | 9.2x | 2.32x | — | Falling transaction counts and repeated executive turnover leave the market uneasy about growth momentum and governance stability. |
| 13 | Leidos Holdings, Inc.LDOS · NYSE | 7.8x | 7/8 | 102% | 11.2x | 2.91x | — | Market discounts Leidos as budget cuts or contract terminations could hit the 87% of revenue tied to U.S. government spending. |
| 14 | Marathon Petroleum CorpMPC · NYSE | 7.9x | 6/7 | 38% | 12.8x | 5.73x | — | Market discounts MPC as a no-moat, cyclical refiner lacking captive crude supply and facing rising GHG and rate-regulation cost burdens. |
| 15 | Ingredion IncINGR · NYSE | 8.1x | 8/9 | 22% | 10.3x | 1.34x | — | Seen as a commodity processor whose sales swing with raw material pass-through, so investors see no distinct growth story. |
| 16 | Urban Outfitters IncURBN · Nasdaq | 8.2x | 8/9 | 41% | 11.4x | 2.26x | — | Pending |
| 17 | Sonoco Products CoSON · NYSE | 8.3x | 7/9 | 37% | 4.9x | 1.38x | — | Heavy debt and integration risk from a huge acquisition justify the low valuation relative to earnings. |
| 18 | United Airlines Holdings, Inc.UAL · Nasdaq | 8.4x | 6/7 | 10% | 10.4x | 2.17x | — | Pending |
| 19 | ANTERO RESOURCES CorpAR · NYSE | 8.8x | 7/8 | 15% | 9.0x | 1.27x | Possible one-off profit | Market stays cautious due to dependence on affiliate Antero Midstream and volatile gas prices. |
| 20 | Lci IndustriesLCII · NYSE | 9.0x | 8/9 | 28% | 9.8x | 1.45x | — | Market treats it as a cyclical parts supplier exposed to discretionary RV demand and dealer floor-plan financing swings. |
| 21 | First Solar, Inc.FSLR · Nasdaq | 9.1x | 8/9 | 27% | 10.6x | 1.80x | — | Market doubts profits propped up by tax-credit sales, fearing policy shifts could swing earnings and capping the stock. |
| 22 | At&T Inc.T · NYSE | 9.1x | 7/8 | 20% | 7.9x | — | — | Market prices in legacy landline decline and debt-funded network spending as decay, not growth, despite steady mobile profits. |
| 23 | Korn FerryKFY · NYSE | 9.1x | 7/7 | 109% | 13.9x | 1.95x | — | Low entry barriers and AI-driven rivals in recruiting keep the market wary of Korn Ferry's earnings quality. |
| 24 | Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.SFM · Nasdaq | 9.2x | 7/9 | 79% | 11.8x | 3.94x | — | Grocery retail is viewed as a low-margin, economy-sensitive business where shoppers shift to cheaper rivals, capping the valuation. |
| 25 | Gen Digital Inc.GEN · Nasdaq | 9.3x | 6/7 | 500%+ | 11.9x | 4.70x | — | Heavy debt and dependence on Broadcom for critical tech keep the market wary despite strong profitability. |
| 26 | Open Text CorpOTEX · Nasdaq | 9.4x | 7/7 | 207% | 8.4x | 1.34x | — | Debt-funded acquisitions and an unfinished cleanup of non-core businesses keep the market wary of this legacy software roll-up. |
| 27 | ADT Inc.ADT · NYSE | 9.5x | 7/7 | 454% | 7.4x | 1.30x | Heavy debtShare dilution | Having shed its commercial and solar units, the firm now reads as a shrinking single-segment business rather than a growth story. |
| 28 | Adobe Inc.ADBE · Nasdaq | 9.6x | 7/9 | 496% | 12.6x | 7.81x | — | Fear that generative-AI rivals will erode Adobe's creative-software moat keeps the stock cheap despite ongoing revenue growth. |
| 29 | Skywest IncSKYW · Nasdaq | 10.0x | 6/7 | 10% | 9.5x | 1.42x | — | Market discounts SkyWest as a subcontractor to major airlines, controlling neither pricing nor routes on most flights. |
| 30 | EQT CorpEQT · NYSE | 10.0x | 7/8 | 12% | 11.5x | 1.23x | Share dilution | Pending |
Is each candidate oversold or overheated right now? See Timing Watch →
Warnings (shown only): Loss-making = Operating or net loss.; Shrinking = Sales down and profit down 20% or more over two years.; Profit not backed by cash = Recent profits exceed operating cash flow by more than 10% of assets.; Heavy debt = Net debt over 5x operating profit, or equity below 20% of assets.; Share dilution = Share count up 10% or more in three years.; Possible one-off profit = Latest operating profit is more than twice its three-year average, and may be inflated by one-off items.
This site ranks companies whose share price is low relative to their profits, using public filings and market prices, and has AI draft hypotheses on why they are cheap from those filings. The hypotheses are unverified. Nothing here is a price forecast or a recommendation to buy or sell. Not investment advice.
Updated 29 Sep 2026 12:31 JST