S&P 500 Earnings: Financials Outperform

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So far this earnings season, 446 companies in the S&P 500 index reported fourth-quarter results. Of those firms, 63 percent beat their estimates, while 26 percent missed and 11 percent matched.

The earnings surprise factor stands at 4 percent, while revenue, on average, has come 1 percent above estimates. Year-over-year revenue growth is 7 percent.

Compared to the same period a year ago, financial and utility companies have taken the lead, showing EPS growth above 17 percent, respectively.

On the other side of the spectrum, material and consumer staple firms have shown the least growth, down 23 percent and 14 percent, according to Thomson Reuters.

Sector Growth Rates

Sector	EPS Growth
Financials	16.7%
Utilities	13.7%
Consumer Discretionary	10.3%
Materials	4.2%
Industrials	4.1%
Energy	3.8%
Technology	3%
Health Care	3%
Telecom Services	-6.3%
Consumer Staples	-9.5%
Total	6.9%

Top 5 Surprises (%)

Ticker	Company Name	EPS Est	EPS Act	% Difference
DHI	DR Horton	0.04	0.13	233
LEN	Lennar	0.04	0.08	100
COF	Capital One	1.39	2.72	96
RF	Regions Financial	0.08	0.14	82
STZ	Constellation Brands	0.39	0.69	78

5 Largest Misses (%)

Ticker	Company Name	EPS Est	EPS Act	% Difference
BAC	Bank of America	0.12	0.03	-75%
HAS	Hasbro	0.08	0.04	-47%
MAT	Mattel	0.07	0.06	-19%
MOS	Mosaic	0.74	0.64	-14%
PGR	Progressive	0.39	0.34	-13%