Yahoo Finance Want Better Returns? Don't Ignore These 2 Conglomerates Stocks Set to Beat Earnings
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, 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 even higher.
2 Stocks to Add to Your Watchlist
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 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 look at a qualifying stock. 3M (MMM) holds a Zacks Rank #3 at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $1.69 a share 25 days away from its upcoming earnings release on July 23, 2024.
MMM has an Earnings ESP figure of 1.65%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $1.69 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.66.
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3M Company (MMM): Free Stock Analysis Report
