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How to Find Strong Consumer Discretionary Stocks Slated for Positive Earnings Surprises

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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.

The ability to identify stocks that are likely to top quarterly earnings expectations can be profitable, but it's no simple task. Here at Zacks, our Earnings ESP filter helps make things easier.

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.

With this in mind, the Expected Surprise Prediction compares the Most Accurate Estimate (being the most recent) against the overall Zacks Consensus Estimate. The percentage difference provides the ESP figure. The system also utilizes our core Zacks Rank to provide a stronger system for identifying stocks that might beat their next quarterly earnings estimate and possibly see the stock price climb.

Bringing together a positive earnings ESP alongside a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better has helped stocks report a positive earnings surprise 70% of the time. Furthermore, by using these parameters, investors have seen 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 Sony?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Sony (SONY - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) 13 days from its next quarterly earnings release on May 14, 2024, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $0.85 a share.

Sony's Earnings ESP sits at +2%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $0.85 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.83. SONY is also part of a large group of stocks that boast a positive ESP. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

SONY is one of just a large database of Consumer Discretionary stocks with positive ESPs. Another solid-looking stock is Hasbro (HAS - Free Report) .

Hasbro, which is readying to report earnings on August 1, 2024, sits at a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) right now. It's Most Accurate Estimate is currently $0.75 a share, and HAS is 92 days out from its next earnings report.

For Hasbro, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.74 is +1.89%.

SONY and HAS' 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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Hasbro, Inc. (HAS) - free report >>

Sony Corporation (SONY) - free report >>

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