It is not surprising that before an earnings season, every investor looks for stocks that can beat market expectation. This is because investors always try to position themselves ahead of time and look to tap stocks that are high-quality in nature.
Why Is a Positive Earnings Surprise So Important?
Historically, stocks of companies with solid quarterly earnings (on a nominal basis) tank if they miss or merely meet market expectations. After all, a 20% earnings rise (though apparently looks good) doesn’t tell you if earnings growth has been exhibiting a decelerating trend.
Also, seasonal fluctuations come into play sometimes. If a company’s Q1 is seasonally weak and Q4 strong, then it is likely to report a sequential earnings decline. In such cases, growth rates are misleading while judging the true health of a company.
Meanwhile, after much brainstorming and analysis of companies’ financials and initiatives, Wall Street analysts project earnings of companies. They in fact club their insights and a company’s guidance when deriving an earnings estimate.
Thus, outperforming that estimate is almost equivalent to beating the company’s own expectation as well as the market perception. And if the margin of earnings surprise is big, it typically drives the stock higher right after the release. Thus, more than anything else, an earnings surprise can push a stock higher.
How to Find Stocks That Can Beat?
Now, finding stocks that have the potential to beat on the bottom line may be investors’ dream but not an easy job. One way to do this is to look at the earnings surprise history of the company.
An impressive track in this regard generally acts as a catalyst in sending a stock higher. It indicates the company’s ability to surpass estimates. And investors generally believe that the company will apply the same secret sauce to execute yet another earning beat in its next release.
The Winning Strategy
In order to shortlist stocks that are likely to come up with an earnings surprise, we chose the following as our primary screening parameters.
Last EPS Surprise greater than or equal to 10%:
Stocks delivering positive surprise in the last quarter tend to surprise again.
Average EPS Surprise in the last four quarters greater than 20%:
We lifted the bar for outperformance slight higher by setting the average earnings surprise for the last four quarters at 20%.
Average EPS Surprise in the last two quarters greater than 20%:
This points to a more consistent surprise history and makes the case for another surprise even stronger.
In addition, we place a few other criteria that raise the chance of a positive surprise.
Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2:
Only companies with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) rating can get through.
Earnings ESP
greater than zero:
A stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank of #1, 2 or 3 for an earnings beat, per our proven model.
In order to zero in on those that have long-term growth potential and high trading liquidity we have added the following parameters too:
Next 3–5 Years Estimated EPS Growth (Per Year) greater than 10%:
Solid expected earnings growth exhibits the stock’s long-term growth prospects.
Average 20-day Volume greater than 100,000:
High trading volume implies that the stocks have adequate liquidity.
A handful of criteria has narrowed down the universe from over 7,700 stocks to just six.
Here are all six stocks:
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (
PLAY
):
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment is a leading owner and operator of high-volume venues in North America that combine dining and entertainment for both adults and families. The stock carries a Zacks Rank #1. You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here
.
The earnings surprise of PLAY for the past four quarters is 218.31%. The earnings growth estimate for the current quarter is as high as 149.58%.
CarGurus Inc. (
CARG
)
: CarGurus is an online automotive marketplace, connecting buyers and sellers of new and used cars. CARG uses proprietary technology, search algorithms and data analytics.
CarGurus
sports a Zacks Rank #1.
The earnings surprise of CARG for the past four quarters is 45.34%. The earnings growth estimate of CARG for the current quarter is 9.09%.
HarleyDavidson (
HOG
)
: The Zacks Rank #1 company is one of the leading motorcycle makers of the world. It is the parent entity of company groups doing business as Harley-Davidson Motor Company and Harley-Davidson Financial Services.
The earnings surprise of HOG for the past four quarters is 77.59%. The earnings growth estimate of HOG for the current quarter is negative 10.1%, but the expected growth rate has improved to 11.28% for the next quarter.
Tesla (
TSLA
)
: EV maker Tesla has evolved into a dynamic technology innovator. It has a Zacks Rank #2.
The earnings surprise of the past four quarters of TSLA is 33.26%. The earnings growth estimate of TSLA for the current quarter is 116.13%.
Marathon Petroleum
MPC
: Zacks Rank #1 Marathon Petroleum Corporation is a leading independent refiner, transporter and marketer of petroleum products.
The earnings surprise of MPC for the past four quarters is 74.78%. The earnings growth estimate of MPC for the current quarter is 805%.
Marathon Oil (
MRO
)
: Zacks Rank #1 Marathon Oil Corporation is a leading oil and natural gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States and Africa.
The earnings surprise of MRO for the past four quarters is 37.39%. The earnings growth estimate of MRO for the current quarter is 261.9%.
You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.
The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It’s easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it’s very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.
Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today
.
Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.
Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at:
http://www.zacks.com/performance
.
5 Stocks Set to Double
Each was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2021. Previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.
Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.
Click to get this free report
