Gilead, Balchem and eight others produce strong sales and profits, and relatively low valuations Gilead Sciences, Inc.Gilead Sciences has boosted sales per share 73% and more than doubled earnings per share over the past 12 months.As the stock market seesaws, you are no doubt receiving advice to go for “quality” when selecting investments. A focus on companies with a track record for earnings growth can be a good approach, especially if dividend income is your objective. It will also be important if we are indeed heading into a deflationary “ice age,” which was predicted recently by analysts at Société Générale. But what’s wrong with investing for growth? Typically, companies with the fastest sales growth can make investors a lot of money. Apple Inc. AAPL, +0.45% has been one of those for years, despite continued nay-saying. To be sure, a company doesn’t need to show large and steady profits for its stock to soar. Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +1.38% is a notable example, with its stock rising 67% this year. The company’s sales per share over the past 12 months have risen 16%, though earnings per share have been negative. To find strong and healthy companies, we looked at the S&P 1500 Composite Index and identified those that posted the fastest sales growth while also increasing earnings. Here are the top 10:CompanyTickerIndustrySales per share - past 12 monthsSales per share - year earlierGrowth of sales per shareEnanta Pharmaceuticals Inc.ENTA,+4.12%Biotechnology$7.74$2.43218%ANI Pharmaceuticals Inc.ANIP,+1.37%Pharmaceuticals$6.69$3.6285%Avago Technologies Inc.AVGO,+1.83%Semiconductors$23.46$13.4674%Gilead Sciences Inc.GILD,-0.08%Biotechnology$18.04$10.4373%Synaptics Inc.SYNA,-0.82%Computer peripherals$44.02$25.9070%Minerals Technologies Inc.MTX,-0.18%Industrial specialties$56.63$33.8267%Lithia Motors Inc. Class ALAD,-0.36%Auto dealers$259.67$167.1155%Balchem Corp.BCPC,+0.68%Specialty Chemicals$19.18$12.4854%Skyworks Solutions Inc.SWKS,+0.10%Semiconductors$15.90$10.6649%Walker & Dunlop Inc.WD,+0.90%Commercial real estate finance$12.07$8.1448%Source: FactSet http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-healthy-growing-companie...