Goldman Sachs says these 15 stocks are poised to explode higher as the economy thrives, based on an exclusive metric it developed

• Goldman Sachs says it's found a way to target the S&P 500 stocks that will benefit the most from continued and sustained economic growth.
• That framing fits with the firm's view that the economy is going to improve this year, meaning those companies are very strongly positioned.
• To find those promising companies, Goldman created a measurement called the growth investment ratio, which compares each company's capital and R&D spending to its cash from operations.
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Everyone talks about investing for the long term, but how can that be measured? Which companies stand apart from the rest in planning for the future?

Goldman Sachs says it's developed a method to answer those questions, and calls it the growth investment ratio. It's based on the idea that the companies most aggressive about investing in their businesses will be best-positioned to take advantage of future economic growth.

"We calculate a firm's growth investment ratio as its total capital expenditures less depreciation ("growth capex"), plus R&D as a share of its cash flow from operations," wrote David Kostin, the firm's chief US equity strategist.

The ratio is based on the company's spending over the past three years. Kostin estimates that over that three-year period, the median S&P 500 has invested just 10% of its cash this way. But a few companies are making much bigger bets on growth.

Goldman's recommendations come at a crucial time, as investors look to overcome their most severe concerns about the trade war and its effect on economic growth. The firm's house view is that US growth will accelerate in 2020, compared to last year.

Below are the 15 stocks with the highest growth investment ratio, meaning that economic recovery could help them the most. Each company has a figure above 100%, meaning its capital spending and R&D is greater than its cash flow from operations.

The stocks are ranked from the lowest ratio to the highest.

Get the latest Goldman Sachs stock price here.