S&P 500 earnings growth at the half way point is nearly double what was expected

MW S&P 500 earnings growth at the half way point is nearly double what was expected

With the S&P 500 first-quarter earnings reporting season finally more than half over, as 60.4% of the index's components having reported results, the blended EPS growth estimate is now nearly double what it was when the reporting started, and about triple what it was at the end of the fourth quarter. The overall blended earnings-per-share growth rate, which includes reported results and consensus analyst estimates for yet-to-be-reported EPS, is 45.7% through Friday morning, according to FactSet data, compared with 24.6% at the start of the reporting season is the only sector currently showing an EPS decline, of 6.4%. The reason for the big improvement in the growth outlook is that 86% of companies that have reported have beat expectations, which is on pace to the the highest percentage since FactSet started tracking beat percentages in 2008. The S&P 500 is down 0.6% in afternoon trading, but has gained 6.0% in April.

-Tomi Kilgore; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com

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April 30, 2021 15:06 ET (19:06 GMT)

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