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These 2 Retail and Wholesale Stocks Could Beat Earnings: Why They Should Be on Your Radar

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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.

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.

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.

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.

In fact, when we combined a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time. Perhaps most importantly, using these parameters has helped produce 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 CVS Health?

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. CVS Health (CVS - Free Report) holds a #3 (Hold) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $1.73 a share 30 days away from its upcoming earnings release on May 1, 2024.

CVS has an Earnings ESP figure of +2.09%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $1.73 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.69. CVS Health 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.

CVS 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 Target (TGT - Free Report) as well.

Target, which is readying to report earnings on May 15, 2024, sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) right now. It's Most Accurate Estimate is currently $2.03 a share, and TGT is 44 days out from its next earnings report.

Target's Earnings ESP figure currently stands at +0.09% after taking the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.02.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, CVS and TGT 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 >>


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Target Corporation (TGT) - free report >>

CVS Health Corporation (CVS) - free report >>

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