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Want Better Returns? Don?t Ignore These 2 Transportation Stocks Set to Beat Earnings

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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.

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.

Now that we know how important earnings and earnings surprises are, it's time to show investors how to take advantage of these events to boost their returns by utilizing the Zacks Earnings ESP filter.

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 #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 Eagle Bulk Shipping?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Eagle Bulk Shipping earns a #2 (Buy) 30 days from its next quarterly earnings release on March 2, 2023, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $2.98 a share.

EGLE has an Earnings ESP figure of +6.62%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $2.98 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.80. Eagle Bulk Shipping 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.

EGLE is just one of a large group of Transportation stocks with a positive ESP figure. International Seaways (INSW - Free Report) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.

International Seaways is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, and is getting ready to report earnings on March 1, 2023. INSW's Most Accurate Estimate sits at $4.32 a share 29 days from its next earnings release.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for International Seaways is $3.81, and when you take the percentage difference between that number and its Most Accurate Estimate, you get the Earnings ESP figure of +13.18%.

EGLE and INSW'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 >>


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International Seaways Inc. (INSW) - free report >>

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