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3 Top-Rated Stocks to Buy After Comfortably Surpassing Earnings Expectations

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More companies are starting to shine this earnings season with the Q4 EPS scorecard for the S&P 500 members that have reported results so far up roughly 6% from last year.

This week’s earnings lineup has featured several top-rated Zacks stocks that have added to this optimistic growth narrative and here are a few to consider.

Energy Transfer (ET - Free Report) : Starting with Energy Transfer which currently boasts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), the limited partnership with diversified energy assets posted Q4 earnings of $0.37 a share on Wednesday which beat the Zacks Consensus of $0.29 a share by 27%.

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Fourth quarter EPS also grew 8% from a year ago and earnings estimate revisions for fiscal 2024 and FY25 are up 5% and 9% over the last 30 days respectively. Notably, Energy Transfer’s Zacks Oil and Gas-Production Pipeline-MLB Industry is currently in the top 20% of over 250 Zacks industries.

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Blackline (BL - Free Report) The tech sector has largely contributed to the broader growth in this year’s Q4 earnings season with internet software player Blackline adding to this correspondence on Tuesday. Blackline sports a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and the Zacks Internet-Software Industry is in the top 30% at the moment.  

Providing cloud-based solutions for finance and accounting purposes Blackline’s Q4 earnings nearly doubled to $0.69 a share and came in 25% above estimates of $0.55 a share. Most intriguing, Blackline’s gross profit has kept soaring jumping 11% from the comparative quarter to $118.11 million with the chart below set to ascend higher.

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DaVita (DVA - Free Report) : Dialysis services provider DaVita sports a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and continues to reconfirm its appealing growth potential among the medical sector. Furthermore, DaVita’s Zacks Medical-Outpatient and Home Healthcare Industry is in the top 28% of all Zacks industries.

Correlating with such, DaVita posted Q4 earnings of $1.87 per share on Tuesday surpassing estimates of $1.53 a share by 22%. More impressive, Q4 EPS soared 68% from $1.11 a share in the prior year quarter. Plus, DaVita has exceeded earnings expectations for five straight quarters posting a very impressive average earnings surprise of 35% in its last four quarterly reports.

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Takeaway

Investors are always looking for stocks of companies that illustrate business operations are stronger than anticipated. These top-rated Zacks stocks fit the bill after easily surpassing their Q4 earnings expectations and it would be no surprise if they drift higher in the coming weeks.


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