S&P 500 Earnings Leaderboard: Biggest Surprises Season to Date
By: As of this morning, 399 companies or nearly 80% of the S&P 500 have reported earnings.
Here's how things stand:
- Companies Exceeding Estimates: 57%
- Companies Matching Estimates: 8%
- Companies Falling Below Estimates: 35%
Compared to three weeks ago when only 20% had reported, the breakdown has shifted with a larger increase in companies beating vs. missing estimates. Even compared to one week ago, the trend shows a slight increase in companies beating. On a percentage basis, steel players US Steel and Nucor continue to lead the list of upside surprises. In absolute dollars, energy and tech rule. Chevron's $549 million surprise passes Pfizer's $405 million surprise followed by Marathon Oil's $381 million and Apple's $347 million surprise. IBM is next in line with a $336 surprise.
Earnings Leaderboard - Best Performers (as of 2/18)
| Company | Symbol | Sector | Date | EPS Est. | Actual | %Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Steel | X | Materials | 1/27/2009 | 0.75 | 2.00 | 167% |
| Nucor | NUE | Materials | 1/27/2009 | 0.13 | 0.34 | 162% |
| Stanley Works | SWK | Cons Disc | 1/28/2009 | 0.34 | 0.66 | 94% |
| Texas Instruments | TXN | Tech | 1/26/2009 | 0.12 | 0.21 | 75% |
| CF Industries | CF | Materials | 2/10/2009 | 2.11 | 3.59 | 70% |
| Janus Capital | JNS | Financials | 1/22/2009 | 0.03 | 0.05 | 67% |
On the downside, Financials continue to take all 5 of the 5 worst surprises. Fifth Third leads the losers, reporting the biggest miss in that sector, off by a whopping 38,000%. In absolute dollars, Citigroup leads with its $6.3 billion negative surprise followed by Regions Financial's $6.2 billion and Wells Fargo's $4.7 billion downside surprises.
Source:Thomson Reuters
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