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How to Find Strong Oils and Energy Stocks Slated for Positive Earnings Surprises

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Two factors often determine stock prices in the long run: earnings and interest rates. Investors can't control the latter, but they can focus on a company's earnings results every quarter.

The earnings figure itself is key, of course, but a beat or miss on the bottom line can sometimes be just as, if not more, important. Therefore, investors should consider paying close attention to these earnings surprises, as a big beat can help a stock climb and vice versa.

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, or Expected Surprise Prediction, aims to find earnings surprises by focusing on the most recent analyst revisions. The basic premise is that if an analyst reevaluates their earnings estimate ahead of an earnings release, it means they likely have new information that could possibly be more accurate.

The core of the ESP model is comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, where the resulting percentage difference between the two equals the Expected Surprise Prediction. The Zacks Rank is also factored into the ESP metric to better help find companies that appear poised to top their next bottom-line consensus estimate, which will hopefully help lift the stock price.

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.

Stocks with a ranking of #3 (Hold), or 60% of all stocks covered by the Zacks Rank, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. Stocks with rankings of #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy), or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market; Strong Buy stocks should outperform more than any other rank.

Should You Consider New Fortress Energy?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. New Fortress Energy (NFE - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) 16 days from its next quarterly earnings release on May 2, 2024, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $0.96 a share.

NFE has an Earnings ESP figure of +12.06%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $0.96 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.85. New Fortress Energy is one of a large database 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.

NFE is just one of a large group of Oils and Energy stocks with a positive ESP figure. APA (APA - Free Report) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.

APA, which is readying to report earnings on May 1, 2024, sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) right now. It's Most Accurate Estimate is currently $0.94 a share, and APA is 15 days out from its next earnings report.

For APA, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.88 is +6.77%.

NFE and APA's positive ESP figures tell us that both stocks have a good chance at beating analyst expectations in their next earnings report.

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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APA Corporation (APA) - free report >>

New Fortress Energy LLC (NFE) - free report >>

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