1st look - Earnings Season takeaways -
Bottom Line: The first full week of the 3rd quarter earnings season has come and gone and in the grand scheme of mixed bags, it's one that's been generally full of treats. Prior to the hurricanes the estimates for earnings growth stood at nearly 8% - keeping the record ride of earnings rolling in 2017. By the end of September those estimates had come all the way down to 3%. Growth is growth but for the stock market's record run to continue, meaningful growth, not just anything is required. So where do we stand one week in?
6% of companies have reported
81% have reported positive earnings surprises and 78% have topped sales targets
Earnings growth has been 2.1%
So, what's going on so far? On one hand most, companies have been exceeding earnings and sales estimates. On the other, the largest companies to report have had results that have weighed down the positive surprises of many of the smaller companies that have reported. We'll see how this plays out from here but this could usher in more of a stock pickers market compared to a "rising tide lifts all boats" type of market. Until next week.