Record-High Increase in S&P 500 EPS Estimates for Q1

During the first quarter, analysts increased earnings estimates for companies in the S&P 500 for the quarter. The Q1 bottom-up EPS estimate (which is an aggregation of the median Q1 EPS estimates for all the companies in the index) increased by 6.0% (to $39.86 from $37.61) during this period. How significant is a 6.0% increase in the bottom-up EPS estimate during a quarter? How does this increase compare to recent quarters?