TECH - 'Magnificent 7' Expected To Do Heavy Lifting Yet Again For Q1 Earnings But Will The Other '493' On S&P 500 Fire On All Cylinders? Analyst Weighs In | Benzinga
Resilient corporate profit growth has been one of the major market drivers, and an analyst said on Monday the upcoming first-quarter reporting season could reflect the positive impact of an improving economic environment and continued strength in technology.
Bar Neither High Nor Low: Unlike in the fourth quarter reporting season, when consensus estimates came down by 6.8% between October and December, the picture is different this quarter, said LPL Financial Chief Equity Strategist Jeffrey Buchbinder in his preview.
This time around, the consensus was cut by just 2.5% between January and March, and therefore the bar wasn’t so low, he said.
The analyst sees the typical three to four percentage-point upside to current estimates as achievable, potentially propelling S&P 500 earnings per share growth for the quarter to about 6%.
Positives And Pushbacks: Buchbinder threw in some data points to lend credence to his view that the economic fundamentals were firming up and these include:
- Bloomberg-tracked consensus GDP growth estimate rising from 0.5% to 2% since the start of 2024
- Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index jumping into expansion territory in March
- Citigroup Economic Surprise Index soaring from -2.4 in January to +39 in April
- green shoots emerging in ...