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.

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 Expected Surprise Prediction, or ESP, works by locking in on the most up-to-date analyst earnings revisions because they can be more accurate than estimates from weeks or even months before the actual release date. The thinking is pretty straightforward: analysts who provide earnings estimates closer to the report are likely to have more 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.

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.

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 Norwegian Cruise Line?

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. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH Quick QuoteNCLH - Free Report) holds a #1 (Strong Buy) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $0.95 a share 29 days away from its upcoming earnings release on November 6, 2024.

NCLH has an Earnings ESP figure of +0.4%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $0.95 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.94. Norwegian Cruise Line 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.

NCLH is one of just a large database of Consumer Discretionary stocks with positive ESPs. Another solid-looking stock is Take-Two Interactive (TTWO Quick QuoteTTWO - Free Report) .

Slated to report earnings on November 13, 2024, Take-Two Interactive holds a #2 (Buy) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and it's Most Accurate Estimate is $0.44 a share 36 days from its next quarterly update.

For Take-Two Interactive, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.42 is +4.35%.

NCLH and TTWO's positive ESP figures tell us that both stocks have a good chance at beating analyst expectations in their next earnings report.

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 >>