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.

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 #3 (Hold) ranking, which is most stocks covered at 60%, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. But stocks that fall into the #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy) ranking, 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 Quanta Services?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Quanta Services (PWR Quick QuotePWR - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) nine days from its next quarterly earnings release on October 29, 2026, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $5.14 a share.

Quanta Services' Earnings ESP sits at +2.66%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $5.14 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.01. PWR 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.

PWR is part of a big group of Construction stocks that boast a positive ESP, and investors may want to take a look at Sterling Infrastructure (STRL Quick QuoteSTRL - Free Report) as well.

Sterling Infrastructure, which is readying to report earnings on October 28, 2026, sits at a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) right now. Its Most Accurate Estimate is currently $6.12 a share, and STRL is eight days out from its next earnings report.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Sterling Infrastructure is $6.07, and when you take the percentage difference between that number and its Most Accurate Estimate, you get the Earnings ESP figure of +0.80%.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, PWR and STRL 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 >>