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Want Better Returns? Don?t Ignore These 2 Oils and Energy Stocks Set to Beat Earnings

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Quarterly financial reports play a vital role on Wall Street, as they help investors see how a company has performed and what might be coming down the road in the near-term. And out of all of the metrics and results to consider, earnings is one of the most important.

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.

When we join a positive earnings ESP with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or stronger, stocks posted a positive bottom-line surprise 70% of the time. Plus, this system saw investors produce roughly 28% 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 Hess?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Hess (HES - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) 28 days from its next quarterly earnings release on January 25, 2023, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $1.89 a share.

HES has an Earnings ESP figure of +2.05%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $1.89 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.85. Hess 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.

HES is one of just a large database of Oils and Energy stocks with positive ESPs. Another solid-looking stock is Pembina Pipeline (PBA - Free Report) .

Pembina Pipeline, which is readying to report earnings on February 23, 2023, sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) right now. It's Most Accurate Estimate is currently $0.55 a share, and PBA is 57 days out from its next earnings report.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pembina Pipeline is $0.51, and when you take the percentage difference between that number and its Most Accurate Estimate, you get the Earnings ESP figure of +7.84%.

HES and PBA'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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Hess Corporation (HES) - free report >>

Pembina Pipeline Corp. (PBA) - free report >>

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