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.

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.

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 Dynatrace?

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. Dynatrace (DT Quick QuoteDT - Free Report) holds a #3 (Hold) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $0.50 a share 16 days away from its upcoming earnings release on November 4, 2026.

Dynatrace's Earnings ESP sits at +1.83%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $0.50 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.49. DT 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.

DT is one of just a large database of Computer and Technology stocks with positive ESPs. Another solid-looking stock is Yelp (YELP Quick QuoteYELP - Free Report) .

Slated to report earnings on November 5, 2026, Yelp holds a #3 (Hold) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and its Most Accurate Estimate is $0.48 a share 17 days from its next quarterly update.

Yelp's Earnings ESP figure currently stands at +12.50% after taking the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.43.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, DT and YELP 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 >>