Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Why Investors Need to Take Advantage of These 2 Retail and Wholesale Stocks Now

Read MoreHide Full Article

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.

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 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 ranking of #3 (Hold), or 60% of all stocks covered by the Zacks Rank, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. Stocks with rankings of #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy), 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 Amazon?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) earns a #2 (Buy) 30 days from its next quarterly earnings release on February 1, 2024, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $1.03 a share.

Amazon's Earnings ESP sits at +29.94%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $1.03 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.79. AMZN is also part of a large group of stocks that boast a positive ESP. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

AMZN is part of a big group of Retail and Wholesale stocks that boast a positive ESP, and investors may want to take a look at Best Buy (BBY - Free Report) as well.

Slated to report earnings on March 7, 2024, Best Buy holds a #3 (Hold) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and it's Most Accurate Estimate is $2.51 a share 65 days from its next quarterly update.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Best Buy is $2.51, and when you take the percentage difference between that number and its Most Accurate Estimate, you get the Earnings ESP figure of +0.25%.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, AMZN and BBY could potentially post earnings beats in their next reports.

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:


Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) - free report >>

Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY) - free report >>

Published in