Looking for Earnings Beat? Buy These 5 Top-Ranked Stocks

Zacks identified Centene (CNC), Astera Labs (ALAB), Five9 (FIVN), Uber Technologies (UBER), and Voya Financial (VOYA) as stocks poised for earnings beats based on a screening strategy that prioritizes companies with a history of exceeding EPS expectations, strong Zacks Ranks, and positive Earnings ESP. The screener also considered factors such as high growth estimates and liquidity, suggesting these companies have the potential for sustained outperformance; for example, Uber has had an average EPS surprise of 212.26% over the past four quarters.

Analysis

Zacks Investment Research has identified five equities—Centene (CNC), Astera Labs (ALAB), Five9 (FIVN), Uber Technologies (UBER), and Voya Financial (VOYA)—as possessing strong potential for exceeding upcoming earnings expectations, reflecting an overall strongly positive sentiment. This selection resulted from a rigorous screening methodology targeting companies with a significant history of positive earnings per share (EPS) surprises, specifically a last-quarter surprise of at least 10% and an average surprise generally exceeding 20% over the past two and four quarters. Further criteria included a favorable Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy), a positive Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction), projected annual EPS growth exceeding 10% for the next 3-5 years, and substantial trading liquidity indicated by an average 20-day volume over 100,000 shares. The article underscores that substantial earnings surprises are critical market catalysts, often leading to stock price appreciation as outperforming estimates is viewed as beating both internal company expectations and broader market perception. Illustrating this, Uber (UBER) reported an average EPS surprise of 212.26% over the past four quarters, while Centene (CNC), Astera Labs (ALAB), and Voya Financial (VOYA) recorded average four-quarter surprises of 25.47%, 28.41%, and 38.39% respectively; Five9 (FIVN) was also identified, reporting a 19.26% average surprise over the same period.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Investors seeking potential alpha driven by earnings announcements should consider the five identified stocks (ALAB, UBER, VOYA, FIVN, CNC) due to their documented history of EPS outperformance and supportive quantitative screening metrics.
• It may be prudent to monitor these specific equities closely leading into their respective earnings releases, as a significant beat, suggested as likely by the screening, could serve as a positive share price catalyst.
• While the screening methodology highlights companies with a strong propensity for earnings beats, this information should be integrated with individual due diligence, assessing broader market conditions and specific risk profiles before committing capital.