Great Earnings Season So Far

We are in the middle of Q1 earnings season, and so far it is a great one.  Expected growth in first-quarter earnings for companies in the S&P 500 index has now jumped to 50% from 39% in the prior week according to Reuters.  Many companies in various sections of the economy such as Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Apple, Intel, Netflix, Caterpillar each reported earnings growth far above analysts’ estimates. 

In this coming week the Q1 earnings season culminates with six of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average components and a third of the S&P 500 companies scheduled to post their operating results.  In the S&P 500 through Friday, 83% of all companies have already posted results above analysts’ expectations. In an average quarter only 61% of companies beat the street estimates.  Also, companies are not sacrificing revenue growth in order to improve their bottom lines. Revenue too has also bested most analyst estimates.  69% of those companies that have reported thus far have topped their revenue views.  Q1 will now mark two quarters in a row where the S&P 500 has recorded earnings growth.