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These 2 Industrial Products 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.

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.

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, 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.

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 Deere?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Deere (DE - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) one day from its next quarterly earnings release on May 16, 2024, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $7.93 a share.

DE has an Earnings ESP figure of +0.82%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $7.93 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.86. Deere 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.

DE is just one of a large group of Industrial Products stocks with a positive ESP figure. Amcor (AMCR - Free Report) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.

Slated to report earnings on August 21, 2024, Amcor holds a #2 (Buy) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and it's Most Accurate Estimate is $0.21 a share 98 days from its next quarterly update.

Amcor's Earnings ESP figure currently stands at +1.24% after taking the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.20.

DE and AMCR'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


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Deere & Company (DE) - free report >>

Amcor PLC (AMCR) - free report >>

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