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How to Boost Your Portfolio with Top Retail and Wholesale Stocks Set to Beat Earnings

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Earnings are arguably the most important single number on a company's quarterly financial report. Wall Street clearly dives into all of the other metrics and management's input, but the EPS figure helps cut through all the noise.

We know earnings results are vital, but how a company performs compared to bottom line expectations can be even more important when it comes to stock prices, especially in the near-term. This means that investors might want to take advantage of these earnings surprises.

Hunting for 'earnings whispers' or companies poised to beat their quarterly earnings estimates is a somewhat common practice. But that doesn't make it easy. One way that has been proven to work is by using the Zacks Earnings ESP tool.

The Zacks Earnings ESP, Explained

The Zacks Earnings ESP is more formally known as the Expected Surprise Prediction, and it aims to grab the inside track on the latest analyst estimate revisions ahead of a company's report. The idea is relatively intuitive as a newer projection might be based on more complete information.

Now that we understand the basic idea, let's look at how the Expected Surprise Prediction works. The ESP is calculated by comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, with the percentage difference between the two giving us the Zacks ESP figure.

In fact, when we combined a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time. Perhaps most importantly, using these parameters has helped produce 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest.

Most stocks, about 60%, fall into the #3 (Hold) category, and they are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. Stocks with a #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy) rating, or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market, with Strong Buy stocks outperforming more than any other rank.

Should You Consider Lowe's?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Lowe's (LOW - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) 21 days from its next quarterly earnings release on March 6, 2024, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $1.73 a share.

By taking the percentage difference between the $1.73 Most Accurate Estimate and the $1.68 Zacks Consensus Estimate, Lowe's has an Earnings ESP of +2.84%. Investors should also know that LOW is one of a large group of stocks with positive ESPs. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

LOW is just one of a large group of Retail and Wholesale stocks with a positive ESP figure. O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY - Free Report) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.

O'Reilly Automotive, which is readying to report earnings on April 24, 2024, sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) right now. It's Most Accurate Estimate is currently $9.22 a share, and ORLY is 70 days out from its next earnings report.

For O'Reilly Automotive, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.21 is +0.02%.

LOW and ORLY's positive ESP metrics may signal that a positive earnings surprise for both stocks is on the horizon.

Find Stocks to Buy or Sell Before They're Reported

Use the Zacks Earnings ESP Filter to turn up stocks with the highest probability of positively, or negatively, surprising to buy or sell before they're reported for profitable earnings season trading. Check it out here >>


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW) - free report >>

O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (ORLY) - free report >>

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