Earnings Season Has Been Great So Far - And Here Are The Numbers To Prove It

Earnings Update: Approximately 150 S&P 500 companies have reported thus far while another 110 or so will report during the upcoming week. Thus far, roughly 67% of companies have beaten expectations (despite AAPL’s disappointing performance, the company still beat EPS estimates) while roughly 20% have missed (this compares to 62% and 28% respectively in Q4 2011). By our measure, the S&P 500 is on pace to earn roughly $99-$100 in 2012, up from $96 in 2011, an increase of about 4%. Margins are not necessarily declining this quarter, holding steady at about 8.9%. Financials have once again been an important contributor towards the index’s earnings. Ex-financials, share weighted EPS growth is thus far negative (semiconductors and insurance names have hurt thus far). Sales per share are up through $280, driven higher by growth in tech and financials, offsetting negative sales growth in materials names.