The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that it turns out, loading up on technology giants isn't the only route to better returns. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post says that value companies, too, stand a decent chance of trouncing the market -- as long as several conditions are met. First, select companies with rising share prices, then narrow the list to only keep those with improving earnings. That portfolio returned 3,471 per cent on a cumulative basis since 2000, more than eight times the advance in the S&P 500 index, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts led by Christopher Cain said in a note to clients. And it has outperformed the benchmark equity gauge by more than twofold this year through April, gaining 12.1 per cent during that time. The finding offers solace to those worried that having too light a position in technology shares would lead to meagre long-term returns. It also underscores the importance of factoring in a profit backdrop when picking stocks. Disregarding the companies' earnings backdrop may come at a cost. Walmart, Pfizer and Goldman Sachs were examples of companies that screened highly but saw shares fall as fundamentals deteriorated.