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

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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.

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.

With this in mind, the Expected Surprise Prediction compares the Most Accurate Estimate (being the most recent) against the overall Zacks Consensus Estimate. The percentage difference provides the ESP figure. The system also utilizes our core Zacks Rank to provide a stronger system for identifying stocks that might beat their next quarterly earnings estimate and possibly see the stock price climb.

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 SPX Technologies?

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. SPX Technologies (SPXC - Free Report) holds a #2 (Buy) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $0.85 a share eight days away from its upcoming earnings release on August 2, 2023.

By taking the percentage difference between the $0.85 Most Accurate Estimate and the $0.84 Zacks Consensus Estimate, SPX Technologies has an Earnings ESP of +1.59%. Investors should also know that SPXC is one of a large group 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.

SPXC is one of just a large database of Business Services stocks with positive ESPs. Another solid-looking stock is Trane Technologies (TT - Free Report) .

Trane Technologies is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, and is getting ready to report earnings on August 2, 2023. TT's Most Accurate Estimate sits at $2.59 a share eight days from its next earnings release.

For Trane Technologies, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.55 is +1.2%.

SPXC and TT'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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Trane Technologies plc (TT) - free report >>

SPX Technologies, Inc. (SPXC) - free report >>

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