These 2 Consumer Staples Stocks Could Beat Earnings: Why They Should Be on Your Radar

Wall Street watches a company's quarterly report closely to understand as much as possible about its recent performance and what to expect going forward. Of course, one figure often stands out among the rest: earnings.Life and the stock market are both about expectations, and rising above what is expected is often rewarded, while falling short can come with negative consequences. Investors might want to try to capture stronger returns by finding positive earnings surprises.Hunting for 'earnings whispers' or companies poised to beat their quarterly earnings estimates is a somewhat common practice. But that doesn't make it easy. One way that has been proven to work is by using the Zacks Earnings ESP tool.The Zacks Earnings ESP, ExplainedThe Zacks Earnings ESP, or Expected Surprise Prediction, aims to find earnings surprises by focusing on the most recent analyst revisions. The basic premise is that if an analyst reevaluates their earnings estimate ahead of an earnings release, it means they likely have new information that could possibly be more accurate.The core of the ESP model is comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, where the resulting percentage difference between the two equals the Expected Surprise Prediction. The Zacks Rank is also factored into the ESP metric to better help find companies that appear poised to top their next bottom-line consensus estimate, which will hopefully help lift the stock price.In fact, when we combined a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time. Perhaps most importantly, using these parameters has helped produce 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest.Stocks with a ranking of #3 (Hold), or 60% of all stocks covered by the Zacks Rank, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. Stocks with rankings of #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy), or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market; Strong Buy stocks should outperform more than any other rank.Should You Consider Kimberly-Clark?The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Kimberly-Clark (KMB) earns a #3 (Hold) 14 days from its next quarterly earnings release on January 22, 2025, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $1.51 a share.By taking the percentage difference between the $1.51 Most Accurate Estimate and the $1.49 Zacks Consensus Estimate, Kimberly-Clark has an Earnings ESP of +1.09%. Investors should also know that KMB is one of a large group of stocks with positive ESPs. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.KMB is just one of a large group of Consumer Staples stocks with a positive ESP figure. Estee Lauder (EL) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.Estee Lauder, which is readying to report earnings on February 4, 2025, sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) right now. It's Most Accurate Estimate is currently $0.32 a share, and EL is 27 days out from its next earnings report.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Estee Lauder is $0.32, and when you take the percentage difference between that number and its Most Accurate Estimate, you get the Earnings ESP figure of +0.83%.KMB and EL's positive ESP metrics may signal that a positive earnings surprise for both stocks is on the horizon.Find Stocks to Buy or Sell Before They're ReportedUse the Zacks Earnings ESP Filter to turn up stocks with the highest probability of positively, or negatively, surprising to buy or sell before they're reported for profitable earnings season trading. Check it out here >>7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +24.1% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KMB): Free Stock Analysis Report The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (EL): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks