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Here's How Investors Can Find Strong Consumer Discretionary Stocks with the Zacks ESP Screener

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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.

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.

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 #3 (Hold) ranking, which is most stocks covered at 60%, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. But stocks that fall into the #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy) ranking, 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 RCI Hospitality?

The last thing we will do today, now that we have a grasp on the ESP and how powerful of a tool it can be, is to quickly look at a qualifying stock. RCI Hospitality (RICK - Free Report) holds a #2 (Buy) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $1.43 a share 11 days away from its upcoming earnings release on December 13, 2022.

By taking the percentage difference between the $1.43 Most Accurate Estimate and the $1.36 Zacks Consensus Estimate, RCI Hospitality has an Earnings ESP of +5.15%. Investors should also know that RICK 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.

RICK is one of just a large database of Consumer Discretionary stocks with positive ESPs. Another solid-looking stock is Hyatt Hotels (H - Free Report) .

Slated to report earnings on February 15, 2023, Hyatt Hotels holds a #2 (Buy) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and it's Most Accurate Estimate is $0.42 a share 75 days from its next quarterly update.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Hyatt Hotels is $0.38, and when you take the percentage difference between that number and its Most Accurate Estimate, you get the Earnings ESP figure of +11.36%.

RICK and H'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 >>


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Hyatt Hotels Corporation (H) - free report >>

RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. (RICK) - free report >>

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