S&P500 earnings insight 28-02-2020 / Source Factset

Key Metrics

• Earnings Scorecard: For Q4 2019 (with 95% of the companies in the S&P 500 reporting actual results), 71% of S&P 500 companies have reported a positive EPS surprise and 65% of S&P 500 companies have reported a positive revenue surprise.
• Earnings Growth: For Q4 2019, the blended earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 is 0.9%. If 0.9% is the actual growth rate for the quarter, it will mark the first time the index has reported year-over-year growth in earnings since Q4 2018 (13.3%).
• Earnings Revisions: On December 31, the estimated earnings decline for Q4 2019 was -1.7%. Seven sectors have higher growth rates today (compared to December 31) due to positive EPS surprises.
• Earnings Guidance: For Q1 2020, 68 S&P 500 companies have issued negative EPS guidance and 32 S&P 500 companies have issued positive EPS guidance.
• Valuation: The forward 12-month P/E ratio for the S&P 500 is 16.7. This P/E ratio is equal to the 5-year average (16.7) but above the 10-year average (15.0).