Halfway there - Earnings Season takeaways -
Bottom Line: With three weeks of 3rd quarter earnings season in the rear-view mirror and the exceptional news of a 3% growth economy in the third quarter despite the headwinds (no pun intended) of hurricanes, there's plenty of reason to be excited about the economic momentum we have in the country. The first couple of weeks produced a mixed bag of results. We had earnings growth but it was the weakest of the year (1.7%). One in five companies had also reported a negative impact due to the hurricanes. Last week was the busiest week of earnings season however and that story has changed for the better. Here's the latest
55% of companies have reported
76% have reported positive earnings surprises and 67% have topped sales targets
Earnings growth has been 4.7%!
By the end of September, after the impact of Harvey and Irma, earnings growth estimates had been cut to 3%. The prospects of a sustained 3% growth economy had also gone by the wayside. That's all now reversed. Companies are blowing through that 3% mark and the economy did post 3% growth in the third quarter despite what the government identified was more than $120 billion in negative economic impact in the third quarter due to the hurricanes. The room for optimism reigns.