Thread by @Matt_Cochrane7

1/ Great growth investor Philip Fisher gives 15 points to look for when investing in stocks.

Point #1: Does the company have products or services with sufficient marketpotential to make possible a sizable increase in sales for at least several years.

2/ This is not to be confused with a 1-time catalyst, such as the American public buying television sets. A modern-day example might be the 5G rollout for hardware makers.

1-time events fade away, resulting in stagnant top-line growth once again.

3/ Fisher also advised on taking a big picture outlook, looking at sales across multiple year periods, noting that even great growth companies could see sales lumpiness from year to year (though this might not apply to SaaS).

4/ Fisher divided growth companies into 2 categories:

fortunate and able - companies in right place, right time that can ride secular growth trends

fortunate b/c they are able - innovative companies that create new markets

Both can lead to gains, but only 1 controls destiny

5/ Fisher doesn't use the term "optionality," but he certainly describes the principle. Namely, to look for companies w/ management teams that can use expertise in one market to profitably enter/create a new one.

6/ There's a reason Fisher listed this as his first point. Looking at a company's long-term future growth prospects matters more than any other single factor. If a company can't grow, it might give an investor a nice pop, but will hardly deliver the gains of a great compounder.

There's few must-read investment books, but Fisher's Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits easily qualifies.

I'll try to go through his other points for buying stocks soon.