Strong results reported during week two of earnings season |
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29 Apr 2011 |
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Read more about this past week and the key themes that have affected earnings and sales for the first quarter in this week's edition of FactSet Earnings Insight, our weekly publication focusing on the earnings trends of companies in the S&P 500. The past week marked the second “peak week” of the Q1 2011 earnings season, as over 175 companies in the S&P 500 reported numbers. Over the past two “peak weeks” of earnings season, the S&P 500 has climbed 3.1% (to 1360.48 from 1319.01). Some of this upward movement can likely be attributed to the large number of companies reporting earnings above analyst expectations during the past two weeks. The Health Care sector has been one of the best performing sectors relative to analyst expectations and price improvement during this earnings season.
 Overall, it has been a strong earnings season to date relative to the expectations of analysts. Of the 291 companies that have reported earnings to date in the index, 78% have reported EPS above the mean estimate and 71% have reported sales above the mean estimate. As a result, there has been an 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 16.3%, and the blended revenue growth rate is 8.9%. On March 31, the estimated earnings growth rate was 11.5%, 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 final peak week of the Q1 2011 earnings season, as 108 S&P 500 companies and two 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.
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