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

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Earnings are arguably the most important single number on a company's quarterly financial report. Wall Street clearly dives into all of the other metrics and management's input, but the EPS figure helps cut through all the noise.

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.

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, 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.

With this in mind, the Expected Surprise Prediction compares the Most Accurate Estimate (being the most recent) against the overall Zacks Consensus Estimate. The percentage difference provides the ESP figure. The system also utilizes our core Zacks Rank to provide a stronger system for identifying stocks that might beat their next quarterly earnings estimate and possibly see the stock price climb.

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.

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 Vital Farms?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Vital Farms (VITL - Free Report) earns a #2 (Buy) 22 days from its next quarterly earnings release on May 2, 2024, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $0.24 a share.

By taking the percentage difference between the $0.24 Most Accurate Estimate and the $0.23 Zacks Consensus Estimate, Vital Farms has an Earnings ESP of +2.17%. Investors should also know that VITL 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.

VITL is just one of a large group of Consumer Staples stocks with a positive ESP figure. Kimberly-Clark (KMB - Free Report) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.

Kimberly-Clark, which is readying to report earnings on April 23, 2024, sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) right now. It's Most Accurate Estimate is currently $1.61 a share, and KMB is 13 days out from its next earnings report.

Kimberly-Clark's Earnings ESP figure currently stands at +0.94% after taking the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.60.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, VITL and KMB 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


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Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB) - free report >>

Vital Farms, Inc. (VITL) - free report >>

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