Zacks Earnings and Margins Strategy highlights: Advent Software, Allis-Chalmers Energy, Brush Engineered Materials and Quality Distribution.

CHICAGO -- Earnings are the single most important metric for a company. Combine that with a healthy Net Profit Margin and you find a screen that has generated a cumulative return of +464% since January 2001. For the first five months of 2006, this Profit Track has returned 8.5%. This screen is called the Earnings and Margins Profit Track strategy. Here are four stocks meeting this screen's exclusive criteria: Advent Software Inc. (Nasdaq: ADVS), Allis-Chalmers Energy Inc. (AMEX: ALY), Brush Engineered Materials Inc. (NYSE: BW) and Quality Distribution Inc. (Nasdaq: QLTY). View the entire list of stocks for the Earnings and Margins Profit Track at http://at.zacks.com/?id=1858

Here are four companies that meet the following Earnings and Margin Profit Track:

Advent Software Inc. (Nasdaq: ADVS) will release results for the third quarter on October 24, 2006. The company produced annual earnings growth last year that were 288% higher than the year-prior. In late July, ADVS reported second-quarter results, stating that the robust demand for its industry-leading solutions has allowed it to expand its customer base while investing for growth and managing its costs, positioning Advent for continued leadership in its market.

Allis-Chalmers Energy Inc. (AMEX: ALY) posted second-quarter earnings of 50 cents per share in late July. The result topped the consensus forecast by 92% and surpassed the previous year's 12 cents. The company noted that revenues and operating income far exceeded management estimates in the second quarter. ALY experienced earnings per share growth of 629% during the most recent year versus the year-prior.

Brush Engineered Materials Inc. (NYSE: BW), a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) company, will report results for the third quarter on October 26, 2006. BW recently upped its third-quarter and full-year outlook as did Wall Street. The one covering analyst is currently forecasting 2006 earnings of $1.30 per share, which 16 cents higher than the one month-ago estimate. For the most recently completed year, the company's earnings per share were 10% higher than the year-prior.

Quality Distribution Inc. (Nasdaq: QLTY) satisfies the criteria for this Profit Track as evidenced by the company's year-over-year earnings per share growth of 760%, which is currently the highest year-over-year figure under the Profit Track. In early August, QLTY released second-quarter earnings of 28 cents per share, exceeding the consensus estimate by nearly 22% and outperforming the previous year's total.

Discover all the current stocks currently on the Earnings and Margin Profit Track at: http://at.zacks.com/?id=1859

About Profit Tracks

What is a "Profit Track"? Each Profit Track is a successful stock picking strategy with proven results through the Bear Market of 2001-2002 and the Bull run started in 2003. On Zacks.com we have created these nine unique screens to offer investors great strategies to potentially outperform the market in the years ahead. For the first five months of 2006, the Low Price Stocks strategy was the top performing Profit Track with a return of +22.2% followed by the Discounted Fundamental screen with a +18.6% return. To see all nine strategies along with philosophy, past performance, and current stocks, go to http://at.zacks.com/?id=1838

All the Profit Track strategies were created and backtested using the Research Wizard software from Zacks Investment Research. If you like this screening strategy, but want to narrow down the list of stocks and even improve the performance, then you should start a free trial to this powerful stock picking tool. Learn more about the Research Wizard free trial offer and our new special report "Top 10 Stock Screening Strategies" at http://at.zacks.com/?id=1993

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