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This 1 Basic Materials Stock Could Beat Earnings: Why It Should Be on Your Radar

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Two factors often determine stock prices in the long run: earnings and interest rates. Investors can't control the latter, but they can focus on a company's earnings results every quarter.

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.

The ability to identify stocks that are likely to top quarterly earnings expectations can be profitable, but it's no simple task. Here at Zacks, our Earnings ESP filter helps make things easier.

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.

Now that we understand the basic idea, let's look at how the Expected Surprise Prediction works. The ESP is calculated by comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, with the percentage difference between the two giving us the Zacks ESP figure.

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 #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 Albemarle?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Albemarle (ALB - Free Report) earns a #1 (Strong Buy) 26 days from its next quarterly earnings release on November 2, 2022, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $6.95 a share.

ALB has an Earnings ESP figure of +2.11%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $6.95 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.81. Albemarle 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.

ALB is part of a big group of Basic Materials stocks that boast a positive ESP, and investors may want to take a look at Newmont Corporation (NEM - Free Report) as well.

Slated to report earnings on October 27, 2022, Newmont Corporation holds a #2 (Buy) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and it's Most Accurate Estimate is $0.69 a share 20 days from its next quarterly update.

Newmont Corporation's Earnings ESP figure currently stands at +6.15% after taking the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.65.

ALB and NEM's positive ESP metrics may signal that a positive earnings surprise for both stocks is on the horizon.

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 >>


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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Newmont Corporation (NEM) - free report >>

Albemarle Corporation (ALB) - free report >>

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