Second-Quarter Earnings Season by the Numbers

Markets Stock Market Today
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Not every company has reported second-quarter earnings yet.
J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP), Target (NYSE: TGT) and Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) are among the big names still to report this week. But with 93% of companies in the S&P 500 having already reported, it’s not premature to draw conclusions about this earnings season.
FactSet did just that last Friday. Here are some of the more compelling numbers they came up with about the nearly-completed earnings season:

  • 72% of companies reported earnings above the mean analyst estimates. Financials fared the best, with 79% of them beating estimates. Telecommunications companies performed the worst, with only 57% of them beating estimates.
  • 53% of companies beat revenue estimates. Utilities performed the best at 65%. Consumer staples fared the worst, at 26%.
  • Earnings were up 2.1% and revenues were up 1.8% versus a year ago.
  • Financials also exhibited the most earnings growth, improving 28% year over year. Financials are also expected to grow the fastest in the third quarter, with an anticipated growth rate of 11.6%.
  • The current 12-month forward P/E is 14.2, a tick above the 10-year average of 14.1 and up from 12.6 a year ago.
  • Among nonfinancials, operating profit margins climbed to 13.6%, up from the 12.1% historical average.
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