Gain insight into the first peak week of the Q1 2011 earnings season

FactSet Earnings Insight highlights the earnings trends of companies in the S&P 500 Index.

The past week marked the first “peak week” of the Q1 2011 earnings season, with over 100 S&P 500 companies reporting results during this time. The Financials and Information Technology sectors were the focus sectors this week. The Financials sector had the highest number of companies reporting during the week, while the Information Technology sector had a number of high profile companies releasing numbers. In both sectors, most companies reported EPS growth. However, it was a different story regarding revenue growth. Most companies in the Information Technology sector did report revenue growth, while most companies in the Financials sector announced revenue declines.

Overall, earnings season is off to a strong start relative to the expectations of analysts. Of the 86 companies that have reported earnings to date in the index, 79% have reported EPS above the mean estimate and 73% have reported sales above the mean estimate. As a result, there has been a slight uptick in the earnings and revenue growth rates for the index since the start of earnings season. The blended (combines actual results for companies that have reported and estimated results for companies yet to report) earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 for Q1 2011 is 13.0%, and the blended revenue growth rate is 7.5%. On March 31, the estimated earnings growth rate was 11.7%, while the estimated revenue growth rate was 7.1%.

Some of the key themes that affected earnings and sales for the first quarter and may also affect future quarters include the disaster in Japan, rising commodity prices, and global economic growth. It is also important to watch how the results of this earnings season affect future earnings and sales estimates for the index.

Next week marks the second peak week of the Q1 2011 earnings season, as 173 S&P 500 companies and 9 Dow 30 components are scheduled to report earnings during the week.

Use the FactSet Earnings Insight report below to analyze the key metrics associated with corporate earnings and revenues. All of the data used to compile the report is available in FactSet.