We are at the tail end of the Q1 earnings season, with only about 18% of the S&P 500 members yet to report. This week’s lineup includes 43 S&P 500 members including big names such as NVIDIA NVDA, Disney and Macy’s.
Picture Emerging Thus Far
Per the latest Earnings Preview, as of May 5, 412 S&P 500 members, representing 85.7% of the index’s total market capitalization, have already reported quarterly numbers. Total earnings of these companies are up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis (73.3% of the companies beat EPS estimates) while total revenue is up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis (67.7% of the companies beat top-line estimates).
Notably, earnings and revenue growth numbers have been significantly better than investors’ expectations, primarily due to robust results from technology, industrial products, basic materials and energy sectors.
Overall, first-quarter earnings for the S&P 500 companies are anticipated to be up 12.7% from the year-ago quarter on revenues that are estimated to increase 6.2%. This would be better than 7.4% growth in fourth-quarter earnings on 4.7% higher revenues.
Technology Earnings Soar
Investors seem to be rejoicing as most of the companies in the technology sector have surpassed estimates so far, particularly revenue estimates. Also, growth rate is up from the preceding quarter and is on track to reach its highest level in almost three years. Continuation of these trends through the remainder of the earnings season should serve as a reassuring development for the market.
We note that almost 85.9% of the total market capitalization in the technology sector has reported till now. Total earnings are up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis (77.3% of the companies beat EPS estimates) while total revenue is up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis (79.5% of the companies beat top-line estimates).
Earnings for the technology sector are anticipated to be up 16% on the back of 6.1% higher revenues, driven by strong broad-based growth.
Stocks to Watch for Earnings on May 9
Let’s take a sneak peek into three E-commerce companies that are set to report their quarterly earnings on May 9:
The Priceline Group Inc. PCLN, a leading player in a highly fragmented online travel booking market, looks likely to beat first-quarter 2017 estimates as it has a favorable combination of a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and an Earnings ESP of +2.16%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
This is because, as per our proven model, a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 to beat earnings. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.