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How to Boost Your Portfolio with Top Construction Stocks Set to Beat Earnings

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Earnings are arguably the most important single number on a company's quarterly financial report. Wall Street clearly dives into all of the other metrics and management's input, but the EPS figure helps cut through all the noise.

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.

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 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.

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 United Rentals?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. United Rentals (URI - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) 30 days from its next quarterly earnings release on April 24, 2024, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $8.59 a share.

URI has an Earnings ESP figure of +2.83%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $8.59 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.35. United Rentals 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.

URI is one of just a large database of Construction stocks with positive ESPs. Another solid-looking stock is UFP Industries (UFPI - Free Report) .

UFP Industries is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock, and is getting ready to report earnings on May 7, 2024. UFPI's Most Accurate Estimate sits at $1.67 a share 43 days from its next earnings release.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for UFP Industries is $1.61, and when you take the percentage difference between that number and its Most Accurate Estimate, you get the Earnings ESP figure of +3.52%.

URI and UFPI's positive ESP figures tell us that both stocks have a good chance at beating analyst expectations in their next earnings report.

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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UFP Industries, Inc. (UFPI) - free report >>

United Rentals, Inc. (URI) - free report >>

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