Not all market leaders will have revolutionary products or services. Throughout market history, in fact, one out of every four big winners has been a turnaround story, a firm that fell on hard times but has rebounded in a big way.

So in this post, I’m going to write about the largest pasta maker in the U.S. Exciting? No. But is the stock one of the strongest in the market? Absolutely!

I’m talking about American Italian Pasta (AIPC), a little-known firm that–believe it or not–has some good reasons to be strong, as I explained in Cabot Top Ten Report a few weeks back:

Flash Player 9 or higher is required to view the chart Click here to download Flash Player now

“American Italian Pasta is the largest U.S. maker of dry pasta, selling it under various brand names. How can a pasta company be one of the strongest stocks in the market? Part of it is the result of a turnaround, as the firm is recovering from years of sketchy management (the former CEO and CFO recently pleaded guilty to fraud). But all that is now in the past, and the new management team has proved adept–they’ve moved the stock from the pink sheets back to the Nasdaq, have gotten the firm current in all its financial filings, and more important, they’re growing the business like mad. Part of the bottom line’s spike is because of a decrease in legal fees (now that court cases are behind them), but much of it has to do with recent price hikes and a plunge in wheat prices, one of the firm’s biggest costs. The result has been shockingly strong sales and earnings growth, forecasts for more to come (earnings could rise 85% in the fiscal year ending September), and a rapidly rising stock. It’s not a typical leader, but consider it a special situation with solid potential.”

More important, the company reported earnings Thursday morning, and they were ridiculously good–revenues rose a huge 53% to $171 million, while earnings mushroomed to $1.23 per share, up from $0.07 a share the year before! People eat more pasta when times are tough. The stock gapped up to new highs on the news. If AIPC can tighten up or pull back for a few days, I think it would be well worth a nibble.