Find moonshots

You can’t reliably predict which specific stocks will be “moonshots” (i.e., deliver explosive returns in a short time). What we can do is screen for stocks that historically exhibit the kinds of traits often associated with big upside potential—high growth, higher volatility, and smaller size—while acknowledging they also carry higher risk.

Below is how each filter is aimed at capturing that “moonshot” profile.

Screening Filters

1. Market Cap: 300M – 5B USD

   • Purpose: Focus on small to mid-cap companies.
   • Rationale:
     • “Moonshot” candidates are rarely mega-cap blue chips; they’re typically smaller companies that can still multiply in size if things go right.
     • A floor at ~$300M avoids the very tiniest micro-/nano-caps, which are often illiquid, extremely speculative, and more prone to manipulation.
     • A ceiling at $5B keeps us away from mature, slower-growing large caps and in the zone where big percentage gains are still realistic.

2. Price: 2 – 30 USD per share

   • Purpose: Target “affordable” stocks where outsized percentage moves are common.
   • Rationale:
     • Very high-priced shares (e.g., $500+) often reflect more established businesses; big percentage spikes are less common.
     • Very low-priced sub-$2 names are frequently distressed or low-quality penny stocks with higher fraud/manipulation risk.
     • The $2–$30 band is a compromise: still capable of large percentage moves, but not scraping the bottom of the quality barrel.

3. Beta: HighRisk (high beta)

   • Purpose: Capture volatile stocks that move more than the overall market.
   • Rationale:
     • “Moonshots” almost by definition must be volatile; a stock that hardly moves can’t suddenly “take off.”
     • High beta indicates that the stock tends to swing more dramatically than the market—this raises both upside and downside potential.
     • This is a deliberate tilt toward risk to line up with the “moonshot” theme.

4. Region: United States

   • Purpose: Restrict to U.S.-based companies.
   • Rationale:
     • The user asked specifically for the U.S. stock market.
     • Keeping to one region also standardizes regulatory environment, reporting standards, and typical liquidity.

5. Listed Exchange: XNYS, XNAS, XASE (NYSE, NASDAQ, NYSE American)

   • Purpose: Limit results to major U.S. exchanges.
   • Rationale:
     • Major exchanges enforce listing standards (reporting, minimum price, etc.), which tends to filter out the lowest-quality OTC or pink-sheet names.
     • This still includes plenty of speculative, high-growth companies but with better transparency and liquidity than unlisted markets.

6. Revenue 5-Year CAGR: ≥ 25%

   • Purpose: Focus on companies with strong historical revenue growth.
   • Rationale:
     • “Moonshot” narratives usually revolve around rapidly expanding businesses or emerging themes.
     • A 25%+ compound annual growth rate over five years is aggressive and screens for companies that have been scaling quickly, not just a one-year rebound.
     • Strong top-line growth is a common ingredient in stocks that the market can re-rate sharply upwards if growth continues or accelerates.

7. One-Month Predicted Return: ≥ 20%

   • Purpose: Emphasize names where a model-based forecast expects high short-term upside.
   • Rationale:
     • A 20%+ predicted one-month return is very aggressive—this is directly aligned with the “moonshot” idea of large, near-term upside.
     • This doesn’t guarantee performance, but it tilts the list toward stocks that quantitative signals currently flag as having elevated upside potential.

Why Results Match the “Moonshot” Idea

• The size, price, and beta filters collectively push you into the high-volatility, smaller-cap segment where extreme moves are more common.
• The growth (5-year revenue CAGR) filter focuses on companies with real, demonstrated expansion rather than purely speculative shells.
• The predicted return filter directly targets names currently modeled to have outsized short-term upside.
• The U.S. region and major exchange filters keep the universe aligned with your request while maintaining minimum standards of liquidity and transparency.

You still need to do deep due diligence on any individual name—these filters only identify candidates with a profile consistent with potential “moonshots,” not guaranteed winners.