cnbcs jim cramer on thursday highlighted two characteristics that are prevalent on wall street suggesting investors can find success by owning companies that exhibit them both its awfully hard to go wrong when you bet on companies with strong sales growth and rising gross margins the mad money host said those financial attributes are currently being sought by institutional money managers who oversee large pools of capital according to cramer everybody loves revenue growth but widening margins that demonstrate an ability to reach profitability matter now too he said for example cramer said this line of thinking can explain why nvidia has been on such a tear recently with shares up 4254 over the past month the semiconductor titan has the fastest revenue growth and some of the most outstanding gross margins i have seen of any large company he said the retail industry further illustrates the power of rising sales and widening margins cramer said walmart decided to absorb cost increases leading to tightening margins and the retailers stock struggled tuesday after it reported earnings cramer said by contrast he said home depot and lowes were embraced by investors after the home improvement stores reported earnings this week they can do no wrong because theyre passing on rising costs to the public and the public has no choice  because these two chains have singlehandedly wiped out the competition already he said while cramer acknowledged companies can improve margins in other ways than just passing on rising materials costs he said that particular strategy is whats being rewarded by the market right now he said more than anything wall street wants companies that can make fortunes because they have very little competition they have tremendous pricing power and they can keep raising prices on you at will he said sign up now for the cnbc investing club to follow jim cramers every move in the market disclosure cramers charitable trust owns shares of walmart and nvidia