Quarterly financial reports play a vital role on Wall Street, as they help investors see how a company has performed and what might be coming down the road in the near-term. And out of all of the metrics and results to consider, earnings is one of the most important.

We know earnings results are vital, but how a company performs compared to bottom line expectations can be even more important when it comes to stock prices, especially in the near-term. This means that investors might want to take advantage of these 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.

When we join a positive earnings ESP with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or stronger, stocks posted a positive bottom-line surprise 70% of the time. Plus, this system saw investors produce roughly 28% 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 MGM Resorts?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. MGM Resorts (MGM Quick QuoteMGM - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) 19 days from its next quarterly earnings release on April 29, 2026, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $0.60 a share.

MGM Resorts' Earnings ESP sits at +5.63%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $0.60 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.57. MGM is also part of a large group of stocks that boast a positive ESP. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

MGM is one of just a large database of Consumer Discretionary stocks with positive ESPs. Another solid-looking stock is Hasbro (HAS Quick QuoteHAS - Free Report) .

Hasbro is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock, and is getting ready to report earnings on April 23, 2026. HAS' Most Accurate Estimate sits at $0.98 a share 13 days from its next earnings release.

Hasbro's Earnings ESP figure currently stands at +0.66% after taking the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.97.

MGM and HAS' 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 >>