Sales growth fuels earnings growth, and earnings growth fuels price performance. It’s a simple concept, but investors often ignore it.

While blue-chip names garner headlines, many are missing a key ingredient seen in major market winners: a consistent track record of big earnings and sales growth.

Most blue chips had it in their early stages, but growth eventually slows. So newer companies that are still expanding their market share are a good place to look.

Plenty of companies can talk the talk, promising big earnings and sales growth down the line, but those that can walk the walk with a steady track record of large growth are harder to find.

So when someone tells you about the next can’t miss stock on Wall Street, make sure that there’s a legitimate growth story surrounding the hype.

Inconsistent quarterly and annual results can be a result of sketchy demand for a product or poor execution by management. That’s not a trait seen in past big market winners. The market’s best stocks showed consistently strong growth before and during their lengthy uptrends.

Choppy results can also come from cyclical or defensive stocks that tend to do well under specific economic circumstances. These stocks can make decent gains, but the big money is made by focusing on firms that are still in the early stages of growth and are providing a genuinely innovative product or service.

In IBD’s New America section, company profiles highlight firms showing big earnings and sales increases. Many are still in the early stages of growth. Fast-growing firms are also prominent in the IBD 50, Your Weekly Review and IPO Leaders screens, among others.

Target stocks with high Earnings Per Share, SMR (Sales + Profit Margins + ROE) and Composite Ratings from IBD. They generally show a consistent track record of growth in recent quarters.

IBD’s Computer-Tech Services group, for instance, is full of strong price performers with solid fundamentals. Of course, some companies are faring better than others. Dow component IBM (IBM) still gets a lot of attention in the financial media, but it’s been a laggard for some time now, mostly due to weak earnings and sales growth in recent quarters. IBM has been lagging the market badly; its Composite Rating is 50.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH), on the other hand, continues to see strong demand for its tech outsourcing services. Its Composite Rating is 98.

Cognizant’s annual earnings have increased every year since at least 2006. The company has strung together at least 18 straight quarters of double-digit earnings and sales growth.

Some firms that make these IBD screens are turnaround stories. After a period of laggard price performance and sluggish earnings and sales, some firms shift gears well and adapt to new conditions in an industry. Business ramps back up, and growth-fund managers start accumulating the stock. In this case, sluggish growth followed up by two to three quarters of big growth are signs that a turnaround is underway. Successful turnarounds can be a launching pad for big price gains.