The higher and more expensive the stock market becomes, the more important it is for investors looking to stay in the market to hunt for sales and earnings-per-share (EPS) growth. With a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 18, the stock market is rich by historical standards, so these two metrics become even more critical. A new research note from Jefferies highlights companies that have seen accelerating sales and EPS growth over the past four quarters.

We screened the Jefferies list for companies that have the most potential upside and that fall in sectors favored now by Wall Street. The five we picked were Ambarella Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) and Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST).

Ambarella

Ambarella is a top company that develops semiconductor processing solutions for video that enable high-definition (HD) video capture, sharing and display. The company’s solutions enable the creation of video content for wearable sports cameras, automotive aftermarket cameras, Internet protocol (IP) security cameras, digital still cameras, telepresence cameras, and camcorders in the camera market, as well as managing IP video traffic, broadcast encoding and IP video delivery applications in the infrastructure market.

The company has seen solid earnings estimates recently, which suggests analysts are becoming a bit more bullish on the firm’s prospects in both the short and long term. With the right products and earnings growth, this is a solid stock for tech investors.

The Thomson/First Call consensus price target for the stocks is $71.36. Shares closed trading on Thursday at $69.25.

Apple

Apple is hardly a stranger to the tech hierarchy, and the company passed another milestone when it was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average this week, replacing the venerable AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T).

The company absolutely crushed earnings estimates when it reported back in January, hitting on all cylinders. With huge sales of both iPhone 6 models, the iconic Silicon Valley firm has traded in spectacular fashion since. Wall Street analysts say flat-out since the first introduction of the iPhone, the company has transformed the world of mobility and totally re-morphed as a company. Many point to what remains a very strong product cycle story, and basically call Apple the best in class technology story.

Apple Pay also appears to be off to a solid start and also likely will generate its own, high-margin revenue stream and be a source of solid recurring revenue, a key e-commerce point. With a huge $145 billion stockpile of cash, some analysts expect new capital allocations strategies, and they see the new Apple Pay as a source of solid recurring revenue.

Apple investors are paid a 1.47% dividend. The consensus is price objective is $139.05. The shares closed trading at $127.49.

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Cisco Systems

Cisco is really flat-out cheap for a blue-chip tech stock, trading at less than 10 times (less cash) price-to-earnings. The networking giant also seems to have fought through numerous headwinds, including up and down demand from telecom carriers, weakness in emerging markets and threats to its very lucrative switching business, all of which many Wall Street analysts feel are going away. The company also stands to benefit from a better corporate spending environment in Europe, as well as continued growth here at home.

Cisco recently won an important contract for the Verizon build out of the company’s next-generation 100G metro network. While Cisco’s optical business is small as a part of total revenue, this win is seen by Wall Street as a significant endorsement of the investments Cisco has made into its optics business.

Cisco investors are paid a very solid 2.95% dividend. The consensus price target is $30.17. Shares closed Thursday at $28.26.

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Rite Aid

Rite Aid has been in the spotlight recently as rumors have resurfaced of a possible takeover of the company by Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA). We even tried to identify how much Rite Aid could fetch in a buyout.

The company is one of the nation’s leading drugstore chains, with nearly 4,600 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Many on Wall Street see the company very favorably positioned in health care, given its geographic overlap with Medicaid expansion as well as its push into clinics. Bullish Wall Street analysts think the fiscal year 2016 EBITDA numbers are conservative, which bodes well if Rite Aid surprises to the upside on earnings reports. The company is debt laden after a monster buyout of Envision Pharmaceutical Services from the private investment firm TPG, and it priced a huge bond deal this week to help pay for it.

The consensus price objective is set is at $9.50. The stock closed Thursday day at $8.23 a share.

Ross Stores

Ross Stores is a top retail stock that may be poised to continue its hot streak. Even if the economy does continue to pick up, which is expected, consumers are going to still flock to the off-price retailers looking for bargains. At one point last year CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Ross Stores may be on the prowl to make an acquisition to spur growth. With the stock on fire, it certainly has the currency to do it with. As of February 24, 2015, it operated approximately 1,300 off-price apparel and home fashion stores in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

Ross Stores investors are paid a very small 0.9% dividend. The consensus price target is $104.76, but shares closed above that level Thursday at $106.74.

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Growing earnings and sales are huge for companies that want to remain favorites on Wall Street. Given that these stocks are trading at or near highs, investors may want to consider a partial position now, and then wait to see if the market doesn’t sell off in the spring.

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