Management's ability to "raise guidance" can often be a catalyst for market-beating returns for specific stocks in the quarters ahead. The third-quarter earnings season is wrapping up, with blended earnings (actual results and the consensus for those still to report) showing a year-over-year gain of 9%, according to Refinitiv. Leading the outperformance were strong gains in Communication Services earnings, up 26%. On the flipside, Energy is performing the worst, down 25%. Our analysts are always on the lookout for companies that boost their outlooks during earnings season. The following is a partial list of companies at which management raised guidance during the 3Q24 EPS reporting season. All are BUY-rated in the Argus Fundamental Universe of Coverage. We like this theme, as it crosses numerous industries and generates a robust list of potential portfolio candidates.

The Vickers Top Buyers & Sellers is a daily report that identifies the five companies the largest insider purchase transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions as well as the five companies the largest insider sales transactions based on the dollar value of the transactions.

Lyft Inc., founded in San Francisco in 2007, operates a peer-to-peer marketplace for on-demand ridesharing. Lyft was originally founded as Zimride, but reincorporated as Lyft in 2012. The company's app for smartphones enables consumers to contact drivers, arrange a meeting point, and get to a destination in a cash-free transaction. The company focuses on the U.S. market and has a presence in 658 U.S. cities. Along with ridesharing, Lyft operates a fleet of scooters and bikes. The company completed its IPO on March 28, 2019 at $72 per share.

Corporate insiders can be called-out for moving through 2024 (to date) without taking any clear stance on stocks. They neither ran to the exits, nor did they act in a manner that suggested early-year investors would be enjoying well-above-average returns as Thanksgiving draws near. But with stocks having experienced an absolute moonshot last week, the current weekly insider-sentiment data from Vickers Stock Research shows that insiders are happy to take a little money off the table after a week in which the major stock indices popped by 4.6% to 5.7%. Drilling down, Vickers' Total One-Week Sell/Buy Ratio is 7.30, pushing into the bearish territory that starts at 6.00. On an exchange basis, the NYSE one-week ratio is 6.19, bearish but not remarkably so; and the Nasdaq one-week tally is 8.49 and clearly a profit-taking response to the soaring share prices seen last week. One week is not a trend, so the above does not imply an imminent correction. But as stocks move higher and higher, insiders continue to book profits. On a sector basis, insider buying was the greatest in Energy over the last week, with shares valued at nearly $48 million bought, although this still trailed the level of selling in the sector, with over $166 million of shares sold. Meanwhile, selling was greatest in the Industrials sector, with shares valued at roughly $314 million sold versus less than $13 million bought. Selling by insiders was also evident in the Information Technology and Financial sectors. This week, analysts at Vickers highlighted insider transactions of interest at Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF) and Noble Corp. plc (NYSE: NE).