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Why Investors Need to Take Advantage of These 2 Consumer Staples Stocks Now

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Wall Street watches a company's quarterly report closely to understand as much as possible about its recent performance and what to expect going forward. Of course, one figure often stands out among the rest: earnings.

Life and the stock market are both about expectations, and rising above what is expected is often rewarded, while falling short can come with negative consequences. Investors might want to try to capture stronger returns by finding positive earnings surprises.

Now that we know how important earnings and earnings surprises are, it's time to show investors how to take advantage of these events to boost their returns by utilizing the Zacks Earnings ESP filter.

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.

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.

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 Archer Daniels Midland?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Archer Daniels Midland (ADM - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) 26 days from its next quarterly earnings release on July 25, 2023, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $1.62 a share.

ADM has an Earnings ESP figure of +3.91%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $1.62 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.55. Archer Daniels Midland 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.

ADM is just one of a large group of Consumer Staples stocks with a positive ESP figure. Ollie's Bargain Outlet (OLLI - Free Report) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.

Ollie's Bargain Outlet, which is readying to report earnings on September 7, 2023, sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) right now. It's Most Accurate Estimate is currently $0.61 a share, and OLLI is 70 days out from its next earnings report.

For Ollie's Bargain Outlet, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.61 is +0.15%.

ADM and OLLI'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


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) - free report >>

Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. (OLLI) - free report >>

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