Where Are Analysts Most Optimistic on Ratings for S&P 500 Companies Heading Into Q3?

With the start of the third quarter approaching, where are analysts most optimistic and pessimistic in terms of their ratings on stocks in the S&P 500?

Overall, there are 11,740 ratings on stocks in the S&P 500. Of these ratings, 54.7% are Buy ratings, 40.3% are Hold ratings, and 5.0% are Sell ratings. The percentages of Buy ratings and Hold ratings are above their 5-year (month-end) averages of 54.5% and 39.5%, while the percentage of Sell ratings is below its 5-year (month-end) average of 6.1%.

At the sector level, analysts are most optimistic on the Communication Services, Energy and Information Technology sectors, as these three sectors have the highest percentages of Buy ratings at 63%, 62%, and 60%, respectively. On the other hand, analysts are most pessimistic on the Consumer Staples and Materials sectors, as these two sectors have the lowest percentages of Buy ratings at 46% each. The Consumer Staples and Materials sectors also have the highest percentages of Hold ratings at 48% each, while the Industrials sector has the highest percentage of Sell ratings at 7%.

The 10 S&P 500 companies with the highest percentages of Buy ratings and Sell ratings can be found below. Amazon.com, Delta Air Lines, and Microsoft are the three companies with highest percentages of Buy ratings at 95%.

After falling to 53.6% at the end of February 2024, the overall percentage of Buy ratings for the S&P 500 has increased for four straight months to 54.7% today. At the sector level, the Consumer Discretionary (to 57.5% from 55.1%), Information Technology (to 60.2% from 57.8%), and Utilities (to 51.3% from 49.3%) sectors have seen the largest increases in their percentage of Buy ratings of all 11 sectors since the end of February. On the other hand, the Energy (to 62.1% from 63.6%) sector has seen the largest decline in its percentage of Buy ratings during this period. Overall, the value of the S&P 500 has increased by 6.6% (to 5,433.74 from 5,096.27) since February 29.

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