The Q2 earnings season is almost behind us. As expected, the overall earnings picture is disappointing.
Per our latest Earnings Outlook report, 90.8% of the S&P 500 companies have reported results already. Total earnings for these companies have fallen 3.7% year over year on a revenue decline of 0.7%. The finance sector, one the largest constituents of S&P 500, hasn’t fared well either.
Finance sector continues to be plagued by global growth concerns and the low interest rate environment. However, marginal rebound in oil prices and improving domestic economic factors alleviated the pressure on the Finance sector to some extent.
As investors and market watchers are eager to see how the companies will perform in comparison with the market expectations, our model offers some insights into it.
Per our quantitative model, in order to be confident of a positive surprise call, a stock needs to have the right combination of the two key criteria – a favorable Zacks Rank – Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better and a positive Earnings ESP.
Earnings ESP is our proprietary methodology for identifying stocks that have high chances of surprising with their upcoming earnings announcement. It shows the percentage of difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Our research shows that for stocks with this combination, the chance of a positive earnings surprise is as high as 70%.
Let’s find out what’s in store for these two finance sector stocks that are slated report earnings in the coming days.
Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) is a patent and patent rights acquisition and licensing company. The company is slated to announce results on Aug 15, after the market closes.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate of 50 cents for the upcoming release indicates a year-over-year growth of about 233.8%. Further, the company has a Zacks Rank #3 with an Earnings ESP of 0.00%, making it difficult to predict an earnings beat this quarter.
Notably, Marathon Patent has a decent surprise history as shown in the chart below:
First NBC Bank Holding Company (NASDAQ:FNBC) is a bank holding company that provides personal and commercial banking services. The company is expected to report on Aug 15.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.02 for the upcoming release indicates a year-over-year rise of about 16.5%. However, the company has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) with an Earnings ESP of +1.96%, making it difficult to conclusively predict an earnings beat this quarter.
Also, First NBC Bank has a decent surprise history as shown in the chart below:
FIRST NBC BANK (FNBC): Free Stock Analysis Report
MARATHON PATENT (MARA): Free Stock Analysis Report
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