S&P 500 Earnings: Q1 2023 EPS Was Much Stronger Than Originally Thought

 | Jul 10, 2023 03:55AM ET

h2 S&P 500 data
  • The forward 4-quarter estimate (FFQE) saw its quarterly bump this week, with the FFQE jumping to $230.26 from last week’s $224.01.
  • With the flat market this week, and the increase in the FFQE, the S&P 500’s PE fell from 20x to 19x;
  • The S&P 500 earnings yield jumped to 5.23% from last week’s 5.03%;
  • The Q2 ’23 quarterly bottom-up EPS estimate is between $52.80 and $52.90.

In terms of interesting data points that can’t seem to be explained, last week’s (what was thought to be the final bottom-up EPS estimate for Q1 ’23) was $53.09, but this week that number had been revised higher to $54.83 or roughly a $1.74 higher revision, without an explanation. Have to check that with the IBES / Refinitiv staff. That’s a big revision – after the fact – and it also means the EPS “upside surprise” was higher than the reported +6.8% as of June 30, ’23.

The point is with that revision Q1 ’23 EPS looks even stronger than we thought before.

h2 Financial sector/h2

Financials always lead off earnings season, and Q2 ’23 will be no exception, with the larger-cap financial names kicking off S&P 500 earnings next week. On Friday, July 14th, 2023, BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), State Street (NYSE:STT), and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) all will report their Q2 ’23 financial results before the opening bell.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), as well as Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), will follow early the next week of July 17th, reporting on Tuesday morning, July 18th, before the opening bell.

Thursday night, posted on this blog, was how well financial sector earnings have held up this year despite higher interest rates and the regional bank issues.

h2 Economic Data/h2