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Earnings Update: February 24, 2017

Earnings

By John Butters  |  February 24, 2017

The key earnings metrics for the week of February 20, 2017: 
  • Earnings Scorecard: As of today (with 92% of the companies in the S&P 500 reporting actual results for Q4 2016), 66% of S&P 500 companies have beat the mean EPS estimate and 52% of S&P 500 companies have beat the mean sales estimate.
  • Earnings Growth: For Q4 2016, the blended earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 is 4.9%. The fourth quarter will mark the first time the index has seen year-over-year growth in earnings for two consecutive quarters since Q4 2014 and Q1 2015.
  • Earnings Revisions: On December 31, 2016, the estimated earnings growth rate for Q4 2016 was 3.1%. Eight of the 11 sectors have higher growth rates today (compared to December 31) due to upside earnings surprises and upward revisions to earnings estimates, led by the Real Estate sector.
  • Earnings Guidance: For Q1 2017, 67 S&P 500 companies have issued negative EPS guidance and 31 S&P 500 companies have issued positive EPS guidance.
  • Valuation: The forward 12-month P/E ratio for the S&P 500 is 17.7. This P/E ratio is based on Thursday’s closing price (2363.81) and forward 12-month EPS estimate ($133.73).

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John Butters

Vice President, Senior Earnings Analyst

Mr. John Butters is Vice President and Senior Earnings Analyst at FactSet. His weekly research report, “Earnings Insight,” provides analysis and commentary on trends in corporate earnings data for the S&P 500 including revisions to estimates, year-over-year growth, performance relative to expectations, and valuations. He is a widely used source for the media and has appeared on CNBC, Fox Business News, and the Business News Network. In addition, he has been cited by numerous print and online publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The New York Times, MarketWatch, and Yahoo! Finance. Mr. Butters has over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to FactSet in January 2011, he worked for more than 10 years at Thomson Reuters (Thomson Financial), most recently as Director of U.S. Earnings Research (2007-2010).

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