- First quarter earnings are expected to increase 26.3% from Q1 2017. Excluding the energy sector, the earnings growth estimate declines to 24.4%.
- Of the 485 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings to date for Q1 2018, 78.1% have reported earnings above analyst expectations. This is above the long-term average of 64% and above the average over the past four quarters of 75%.
- First quarter revenue is expected to increase 8.3% from Q4 2016. Excluding the energy sector, the revenue growth estimate declines to 7.9%.
- 75.6% of companies have reported Q1 2018 revenue above analyst expectations. This is above the long-term average of 60% and above the average over the past four quarters of 69%.
- For Q2 2018, there have been 59 negative EPS preannouncements issued by S&P 500 corporations compared to 42 positive, which results in an N/P ratio of 1.4 for the S&P 500 Index.
- The forward four-quarter (2Q18 – 1Q19) P/E ratio for the S&P 500 is 16.7.
- During the week of May. 28, nine S&P 500 companies are expected to report quarterly earnings.
