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These 2 Computer and Technology Stocks Could Beat Earnings: Why They Should Be on Your Radar

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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.

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, 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.

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 Roper 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. Roper Technologies (ROP - Free Report) holds a #3 (Hold) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $4.53 a share 25 days away from its upcoming earnings release on July 19, 2024.

By taking the percentage difference between the $4.53 Most Accurate Estimate and the $4.46 Zacks Consensus Estimate, Roper Technologies has an Earnings ESP of +1.68%. Investors should also know that ROP 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.

ROP is one of just a large database of Computer and Technology stocks with positive ESPs. Another solid-looking stock is Broadcom Inc. (AVGO - Free Report) .

Broadcom Inc. which is readying to report earnings on August 29, 2024, sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) right now. It's Most Accurate Estimate is currently $11.99 a share, and AVGO is 66 days out from its next earnings report.

Broadcom Inc.'s Earnings ESP figure currently stands at +0.27% after taking the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.96.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, ROP and AVGO could potentially post earnings beats in their next reports.

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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Roper Technologies, Inc. (ROP) - free report >>

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) - free report >>

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