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How to Find Strong Industrial Products Stocks Slated for Positive Earnings Surprises

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Wall Street watches a company's quarterly report closely to understand as much as possible about its recent performance and what to expect going forward. Of course, one figure often stands out among the rest: earnings.

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 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.

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.

When we join a positive earnings ESP with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or stronger, stocks posted a positive bottom-line surprise 70% of the time. Plus, this system saw investors produce roughly 28% 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 Hubbell?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Hubbell (HUBB - Free Report) earns a #2 (Buy) 29 days from its next quarterly earnings release on October 29, 2024, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $4.54 a share.

By taking the percentage difference between the $4.54 Most Accurate Estimate and the $4.48 Zacks Consensus Estimate, Hubbell has an Earnings ESP of +1.2%. Investors should also know that HUBB 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.

HUBB is just one of a large group of Industrial Products stocks with a positive ESP figure. Plug Power (PLUG - Free Report) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.

Plug Power is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock, and is getting ready to report earnings on November 14, 2024. PLUG's Most Accurate Estimate sits at -$0.21 a share 45 days from its next earnings release.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Plug Power is -$0.25, and when you take the percentage difference between that number and its Most Accurate Estimate, you get the Earnings ESP figure of +14.63%.

HUBB and PLUG'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 >>


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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Plug Power, Inc. (PLUG) - free report >>

Hubbell Inc (HUBB) - free report >>

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