The Q3 earnings season has gained significant momentum with results from 198 S&P 500 members or 48.9% of the index’s total market capitalization already out (as of Oct 26).

As per the latest Earnings Trends report, total earnings of these 198 index members are up 3.2% year over year on the back of 1.9% higher revenues.  Beat ratios are impressive with 73.7% beating EPS estimates and 61.1% coming in ahead of top-line expectations.

Another 302 companies are set to report results over the next few weeks. Notably, after consecutive five quarters of decline, earnings are now anticipated to show positive growth.

Overall third-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are now expected to increase 1.4% (as compared with earlier estimate of +0.1%) from the year-ago quarter on revenues that are also estimated to increase 1.4%.

The growth is expected to be driven by solid results from the Finance sector, driven by robust performance from big names like J.P. Morgan (JPM Quick QuoteJPM - Free Report) and Goldman Sachs (GS Quick QuoteGS - Free Report) . Both companies have a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Finance’s impressive show is anticipated to mitigate sluggish growth from the Energy, Autos, Transportation as well as Technology sectors.

Technology earnings growth is expected to remain muted due to disappointing results from Apple (AAPL Quick QuoteAAPL - Free Report) . Although the iPhone maker beat the fourth-quarter 2016 earnings estimates by a penny, we note that earnings declined 15% on a year-over-year basis as revenues fell 9.9%.

We now have third-quarter results from 55.6% of the sector’s total market capitalization in the S&P 500 index. So far, total earnings are down 2.4% year over year on 1.4% lower revenues, with 83.3% beating EPS estimates and 70.8% beating revenue expectations.

Earnings for the Technology sector are now anticipated to be up 1.6% based on 1% lower revenues. Semiconductors comprise an important component of the technology sector and are anticipated to follow the same earnings growth trajectory in the quarter. Here, we take a look at three semiconductor companies set to report earnings on Oct 31:

Amkor Technology Inc. (AMKR Quick QuoteAMKR - Free Report) is unlikely to beat third-quarter 2016 earnings estimates as it has an unfavorable combination of a Zacks Rank #2 and an Earnings ESP of 0.00%.

This is because, as per our proven model, a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1, 2 or 3 to beat earnings. Simultaneously, we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Sell-rated) going into an earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

While end-market demand is expected to remain stable with particular strength in China where Amkor is picking up market share, earthquakes in Japan could have an impact on its upcoming quarter results. The company expects third-quarter revenues in the range of $1.01 billion to $1.09 billion, up 10% to 19% sequentially. (Read More: Amkor Technology Q3 Earnings: Surprise in Store?)
 

We note that Amkor’s results compared favorably with the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last four quarters, with an average beat of 131.25%.

Integrated Device Technology Inc. is also unlikely to beat second-quarter fiscal 2017 earnings estimates as it has an unfavorable combination of a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) and an Earnings ESP of 0.00%.

Integrated Digital expects revenues to come in at approximately $184 million (+/-$5 million). Communications is anticipated to decline by approximately 14%, due to Huawei’s decision to use internally designed ASIC solution instead of the company’s SRIO.

Moreover, computing revenues are expected to increase by approximately 4% and consumer revenues are anticipated to be essentially flat from the year-ago quarter. Automotive and Industrial segment is estimated to grow by 6% to approximately $17 million.
 

We note that Integrated Device’s results have beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three out of the last four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 3.86%.

Monolithic Power Systems Inc. (MPWR Quick QuoteMPWR - Free Report) provides integrated power semiconductor solutions for systems for industrial applications, telecom infrastructures, cloud-computing, automotive and consumer applications.

The company is likely to beat third-quarter 2016 earnings estimates as it has a favorable combination of a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and an Earnings ESP of +2.63%. This is because the Most Accurate estimate of 39 cents per share is higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 38 cents per share. Please check our Earnings ESP Filter that enables you to find stocks that are expected to come out with earnings surprises.

We believe the company’s results will be driven by expanding product portfolio and innovative pipeline. The company has considerable growth opportunity in the industrial market driven by higher sales in automotive, smart meters and a variety of industrial equipment.

However, quarterly fluctuations in the company’s communications business will impact top-line growth.
 

Monolithic Power forecasts Q3 revenues in the range of $104 million to $108 million. Adjusted gross margin is expected to be in the range of 54.8% to 55.8%.

Notably, Monolithic Power’s results have beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters with an average positive surprise of 2.73%.

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