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How to Boost Your Portfolio with Top Consumer Staples Stocks Set to Beat Earnings

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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.

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, 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.

Now that we understand the basic idea, let's look at how the Expected Surprise Prediction works. The ESP is calculated by comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, with the percentage difference between the two giving us the Zacks ESP figure.

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.

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 Mondelez?

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. Mondelez (MDLZ - Free Report) holds a #3 (Hold) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $0.78 a share 29 days away from its upcoming earnings release on January 30, 2024.

MDLZ has an Earnings ESP figure of +1.52%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $0.78 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.76. Mondelez 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.

MDLZ is part of a big group of Consumer Staples stocks that boast a positive ESP, and investors may want to take a look at e.l.f. Beauty (ELF - Free Report) as well.

e.l.f. Beauty is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock, and is getting ready to report earnings on February 7, 2024. ELF's Most Accurate Estimate sits at $0.67 a share 37 days from its next earnings release.

e.l.f. Beauty's Earnings ESP figure currently stands at +26.42% after taking the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.53.

MDLZ and ELF'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 >>


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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


Mondelez International, Inc. (MDLZ) - free report >>

e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) - free report >>

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