Friday, July 30th, 2010

S&P 500 Earnings Surprises for the Fourth Quarter as of 1-31-10

January 31st, 2010 at 4:57 am by CB | No Comments

The figures and charts below detail the 193 companies of the Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) 500 that have reported their earnings for the fourth quarter of 2009 as of January 28th. Of these 193 companies, 158 have reported positive earnings surprises, while 34 have reported negative earnings surprises and one company did not surprise. Chain Bridge Investing has also included several summary charts at the beginning of the report to gain a deeper understanding of the changes occurring in this index of companies. All data from Stock Investor Pro.

Despite the fact that approximately 82% of the S&P500 companies have beaten earnings expectations and that GDP was estimated to have grown 5.7% growth for the fourth quarter, the market indices are not responding well to the data. Such information, on the surface, should be favorable to the markets and encourage buying in a good market. Instead, the markets have been turning down on such information, thus indicating that it may be a while before the markets make significant positive progress. Just another factor market that market participants may want to consider.

In general, the reporting companies have shown reduced interest-bearing debt levels as a percentage of total assets and increased cash and short-term investment levels as a percentage of total assets. The S&P 500 sectors with the greatest decrease in interest-bearing debt levels as a percentage of total assets are the following: (1) consumer non-cyclical; (2) technology; and (3) basic materials. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 sectors with the greatest increase in cash and short-term investment levels as a percentage of total assets are the following: (1) conglomerates; (2) technology; and (3) capital goods.

S&P 500 Earnings Surprises Report 1-31-10 –