(MONEY Magazine) – To help you find solid stocks that can outpace the market next year, MONEY offers this list of top-performing blue chips and large growth companies. We began with a ranking of 1,000 of the largest U.S. companies compiled by Stern Stewart & Co., a New York City financial analysis firm. Stern Stewart's exclusive formula compares the total market value of a company's shares with the total amount of equity the firm has ever raised from its shareholders. In short, it measures how much value -- if any -- a company's management has been able to add to shareholders' investments, and how much this added value has grown over time. Stern Stewart reviewed the past five years, using the most recent data available, to produce a list of 100 companies with the largest increases in added value measured in dollar terms; that approach favored multibillion- dollar blue chips. Then, in fairness to the smaller companies, MONEY ranked those stocks a second time according to their increases in added value in percentage terms. The 50 top performers are listed at right. Some stocks regarded as blue chips didn't even pass the first screen. The total value of GM's outstanding stock, for instance, is $19 billion less than shareholders have put into the company. But other well-known stocks rank high. Philip Morris is now worth about $50 billion more than shareholders' total investments, and Wal-Mart is ahead by $48 billion. Not surprisingly, some growth stocks beat out even the best-performing blue chips on a percentage basis. Amgen, for example, has posted a stunning 14,783% gain because five years ago the company's invested capital was tiny -- only $43 million, compared with $14.6 billion for Philip Morris at that time and $2.4 billion for Wal-Mart. In general, industries whose sales have held up during the recent recession got good grades. Food and consumer-products companies, particularly those selling inexpensive everday items, accounted for 15 of the 50 stocks. Another 14 were in health care, a field virtually immune to the general economic downturn. Of course, past performance isn't the only factor investors should consider. Two of the 50 are fast-growing but heavily indebted firms -- LIN Broadcasting and Turner Broadcasting. Of the rest, one star indicates that a company's finances are investment grade; two stars, that they are even better; and three stars, the strongest. Conservative investors may also prefer shares with dividend yields of at least 3%. Most important, though, is whether a stock is overpriced right now or a bargain. As the accompanying story explains, one reliable test is to compare a company's price/earnings ratio with its prospects for profit growth over the next five years. Ideally, a bargain stock's P/E ratio will be less than its growth rate. In this table, P/Es reflect earnings estimated for 1992, while growth rates are based on a consensus of analysts' projections for the next five years. If a company you like seems pricey, don't forget about it altogether -- add it to your buy list. You may be able to pick it up cheap if stocks skid temporarily next year.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: Sources: Stern Stewart, Value Line, Institutional Brokers Estimate System CAPTION: NO CAPTION