You want to find companies with strong quarterly earnings growth over a long period of time, the size of the company’s debt load, the diversity or concentration of the company’s income streams, its annual sales growth over time, its ability to make great products year in and year out, the ability of the company in controlling expenses, and whether the company uses capital wisely. You may also want to see if the company spends money appropriately on (people, equipment, marketing, research and development, etc.).