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How to Find Strong Business Services Stocks Slated for Positive Earnings Surprises

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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.

The ability to identify stocks that are likely to top quarterly earnings expectations can be profitable, but it's no simple task. Here at Zacks, our Earnings ESP filter helps make things easier.

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.

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.

Most stocks, about 60%, fall into the #3 (Hold) category, and they are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. Stocks with a #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy) rating, or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market, with Strong Buy stocks outperforming more than any other rank.

Should You Consider Visa?

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. Visa (V - Free Report) holds a #3 (Hold) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $2.42 a share seven days away from its upcoming earnings release on July 23, 2024.

V has an Earnings ESP figure of +0.42%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $2.42 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.41. Visa 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.

V is part of a big group of Business Services stocks that boast a positive ESP, and investors may want to take a look at Trane Technologies (TT - Free Report) as well.

Trane Technologies is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, and is getting ready to report earnings on July 31, 2024. TT's Most Accurate Estimate sits at $3.11 a share 15 days from its next earnings release.

For Trane Technologies, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.08 is +0.95%.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, V and TT 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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Visa Inc. (V) - free report >>

Trane Technologies plc (TT) - free report >>

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