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Why Investors Need to Take Advantage of These 2 Industrial Products Stocks Now

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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.

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 Deere?

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. Deere (DE - Free Report) holds a #3 (Hold) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $5.26 a share 20 days away from its upcoming earnings release on February 15, 2024.

By taking the percentage difference between the $5.26 Most Accurate Estimate and the $5.16 Zacks Consensus Estimate, Deere has an Earnings ESP of +2.09%. Investors should also know that DE 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.

DE is part of a big group of Industrial Products stocks that boast a positive ESP, and investors may want to take a look at A.O. Smith (AOS - Free Report) as well.

Slated to report earnings on January 30, 2024, A.O. Smith holds a #3 (Hold) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and it's Most Accurate Estimate is $0.99 a share four days from its next quarterly update.

For A.O. Smith, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.95 is +3.8%.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, DE and AOS 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:


Deere & Company (DE) - free report >>

A. O. Smith Corporation (AOS) - free report >>

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