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Earnings season is here again.
The first-quarter results from America’s biggest companies could boost their stocks, which have sagged of late.
“Both macro and micro data suggest that a beat — albeit smaller than in 3Q — is likely, with a near-record proportion of early-reporter beats, near-record (but decelerating) US data surprises, strong (but slowing) guidance trends and continued strength in the ISM indices (to which we‘ve found among the strongest correlations with EPS growth),” Bank of America Merrill Lynch equity strategists said in a recent note.
They identified companies that are poised to surprise investors with outsized beats on earnings and sales forecasts.
The list below includes the stocks that BAML thinks are underowned by fund managers. It is ranked in ascending order of how much more bullish BAML’s analysts are compared to their peers: Z-scores representing the number of standard deviations between BAML’s earnings-per-share estimates and the consensus among other analysts.
All the stocks below beat on earnings and revenues during the last quarter, and are rated “buy” by BAML.
McDonald’s
Markets Insider
Ticker: MCD
Sector: Consumer Discretionary
BAML vs consensus EPS Z-score: 0.0
BAML vs consensus sales Z-score: 1.0
Expected report date: April 30
United Rentals
Markets Insider
Ticker: URI
Sector: Industrials
BAML vs consensus EPS Z-score: 0.1
BAML vs consensus sales Z-score: 0.3
Expected report date: April 18
Qualcomm
Markets Insider
Ticker: QCOM
Sector: Information Technology
BAML vs consensus EPS Z-score: 0.1
BAML vs consensus sales Z-score: 0.5
Expected report date: April 25
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- 16 neglected stocks poised to crush Wall Street’s expectations when they announce earnings, according to Bank of America
- GOLDMAN SACHS: 5 stocks will see unusually large moves this earnings season — here’s how to trade them
- An unconventional hedge has been creating ‘turbo-charged’ returns for worried stock traders
