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Why Investors Need to Take Advantage of These 2 Computer and Technology Stocks Now

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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.

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.

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.

Bringing together a positive earnings ESP alongside a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better has helped stocks report a positive earnings surprise 70% of the time. Furthermore, by using these parameters, investors have seen 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 Twilio?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Twilio (TWLO - Free Report) earns a #1 (Strong Buy) 16 days from its next quarterly earnings release on August 1, 2024, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $0.73 a share.

TWLO has an Earnings ESP figure of +2.34%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $0.73 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.71. Twilio 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.

TWLO is one of just a large database of Computer and Technology stocks with positive ESPs. Another solid-looking stock is ViaSat (VSAT - Free Report) .

Slated to report earnings on August 14, 2024, ViaSat holds a #3 (Hold) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and it's Most Accurate Estimate is -$0.21 a share 29 days from its next quarterly update.

ViaSat's Earnings ESP figure currently stands at +50% after taking the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of -$0.42.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, TWLO and VSAT 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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Viasat Inc. (VSAT) - free report >>

Twilio Inc. (TWLO) - free report >>

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