As earnings announcements slow, news for Apple and BofA picks up

During a relatively quiet week in terms of earnings announcements, Apple and Bank of America both generated headlines yesterday for news unrelated to earnings results. However, it is interesting to note that these two companies were high profile companies during the Q2 2011 earnings season due to their earnings results.

Apple reported a substantial year-over-year increase in EPS for Q2 2011, while Bank of America reported a significant year-over-year decline in EPS. In fact, Apple was the largest contributor to dollar-level earnings growth for the entire S&P 500 in Q2 2011, while Bank of America was the largest detractor to dollar-level earnings growth for the index.

Of the 491 companies that have reported earnings to date for Q2 2011, 75% have reported EPS above the mean estimate, while 70% have reported sales above the mean estimate. Some of the key themes that impacted earnings and sales for the second quarter included higher commodity prices, continuing global economic growth, and the impact of the disaster in Japan.

This week, five S&P 500 companies are scheduled to announce earnings for Q2 2011.

Launch this week's edition of FactSet Earnings Insight to read more about the earnings of companies in the S&P 500.

All of the data used to compile FactSet Earnings Insight is available in the FactSet workstation.