To date, 96% of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported actual results for Q4 2018. In terms of earnings, the percentage of companies reporting actual EPS above estimates (69%) is below the five-year average. In aggregate, companies are reporting earnings that are 3.3% above the estimates, which is also below the five-year average. In terms of revenues, the percentage of companies reporting actual revenues above estimates (61%) is slightly above the five-year average. In aggregate, companies are reporting revenues that are 0.3% above the estimates, which is below the five-year average.
The blended (combines actual results for companies that have reported and estimated results for companies that have yet to report), year-over-year earnings growth rate for the fourth quarter is 13.1% today, which is equal to the earnings growth rate of 13.1% last week. If 13.1% is the actual growth rate for the quarter, it will mark the first time the index has not reported earnings growth above 20% since Q4 2017. However, it will also mark the fifth straight quarter of double-digit earnings growth for the index. All 11 sectors are reporting year-over-year earnings growth. Five sectors are reporting double-digit earnings growth, led by the Energy, Communication Services, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.
The blended, year-over-year revenue growth rate for the fourth quarter is 5.8% today, which is below the revenue growth rate of 6.6% last week. The negative revenue surprise reported by Berkshire Hathaway was mainly responsible for the decrease in the revenue growth rate during the week. Ten of the 11 sectors are reporting year-over-year growth in revenues. Three sectors are reporting double-digit growth in revenues: Communications Services, Real Estate, and Energy. The Financials sector is the only sector reporting a year-over-year decline in revenues.
Looking ahead, analysts predict a decline in earnings for the first quarter (-3.2%) of 2019 and low single-digit growth in earnings for the second (0.3%) and third (1.9%) quarters of 2019.
The forward 12-month P/E ratio is 16.2, which is below the five-year average but above the 10-year average.
During the upcoming week, ten S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report results for the fourth quarter and one S&P 500 company is scheduled to report results for the first quarter.