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.

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 is more formally known as the Expected Surprise Prediction, and it aims to grab the inside track on the latest analyst estimate revisions ahead of a company's report. The idea is relatively intuitive as a newer projection might be based on more complete 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 CME Group?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. CME Group (CME Quick QuoteCME - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) 14 days from its next quarterly earnings release on October 21, 2026, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $3.00 a share.

CME has an Earnings ESP figure of +1.44%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $3.00 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.95. CME Group 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.

CME is just one of a large group of Finance stocks with a positive ESP figure. Prudential (PRU Quick QuotePRU - Free Report) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.

Prudential, which is readying to report earnings on November 3, 2026, sits at a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) right now. Its Most Accurate Estimate is currently $3.48 a share, and PRU is 27 days out from its next earnings report.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Prudential is $3.44, and when you take the percentage difference between that number and its Most Accurate Estimate, you get the Earnings ESP figure of +0.96%.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, CME and PRU 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 >>