CHICAGO, Sept. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks Director of Research Sheraz Mian says, "Estimates for most sectors have come down, though Medical, Basic Materials, Aerospace, and Transportation experienced modest positive revisions during the quarter"
Looking Ahead to Q3 Earnings Season
We are still a few weeks away from the end of the September quarter, but the Q3 earnings season will have gotten underway by then. The reason for that is that we and other researchers count companies with fiscal quarters ending in August as part of our Q3 tally.
Using this definition, Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI-Free Report) will be the first to come out with Q3 results later this week followed by 8 S&P 500 members next week, including such industry leaders as Oracle (NYSE:ORCL-Free Report), FedEx (NYSE:FDX-Free Report) and Nike (NYSE:NKE-Free Report). In fact, by October 1st, we will have seen Q3 results from almost 20 S&P 500 members. In all fairness however, the reporting cycle wouldn't get heated up till mid-October.
Estimates for Q3 have come down as the quarter has unfolded, with current expectations of +3.1% total earnings growth in the quarter down from +5.6% growth expected in early July. Estimates for most sectors came down, though Medical, Basic Materials, Aerospace, and Transportation experienced modest positive revisions during the quarter. The negative revisions trend for Q3 has been in keeping with what we have been witnessing for quite some time, though the pace and magnitude of negative revisions for Q3 compares favorably with what we have been used to in the recent past.
Final Q2 Scorecard
We will officially close the books on the Q2 earnings season following Kroger's (NYSE:KR-Free Report) Thursday morning. But for all practical purposes, the reporting cycle is over now. This was a strong earnings season after a long time, with total earnings up +8.1% from the same period last year on +4.4% higher revenues and with 62.5% beating EPS estimates and 58.3% coming out with positive revenue surprises.
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