7 out of 8 S&P 500 companies deliver EPS wins this week – Earnings scorecard

All the three major indexes closed Friday with their fifth consecutive week of gains. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index crossed the 5800 points mark in a historic first on Friday. The index began the regular trading session marginally lower, but then turned positive shortly after.

The S&P 500 had finished Thursday’s choppy session lower, with September consumer inflation and weekly jobless claims coming in above estimates, reminding traders that inflation risks still remain a concern.

Meanwhile, data from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that the Producer Price Index for final demand was unchanged on a monthly basis in September, less than the 0.1% increase expected and decelerating from August’s 0.2% rise.

While this week’s positive earnings from big banks gave a boost to the markets, the upcoming earnings season will test whether the rally can be sustained with growing uncertainty regarding monetary policy, geopolitical risks, and the U.S. presidential elections.

Out of the eight S&P 500 companies that reported earnings this week, seven of them beat EPS expectations, while five of them beat revenue estimates. Four out of the eight companies exceeded expectations on both the fronts: EPS and revenue.

In the terms of annual comparison, all except Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) reported y-o-y decline in EPS and revenue and Delta Airlines (NYSE:DAL) showed decline in terms of EPS, while PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) reported annual decline in revenue.

The financial sector boosted Wall Street on Friday with strong earnings, with companies like Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK), BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) beating both revenue and EPS estimates.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) stock gained 1.6% in Friday premarket trading after the biggest U.S. bank by assets increased its net interest income guidance for the year and turned in better-than-expected Q3 earnings.

The company now expects 2024 net interest income, excluding markets, of ~$91.5B vs. $90.8B Visible Alpha consensus and the ~$91B guidance the bank gave in July.

Along similar lines, BlackRock (BLK)’s Q3 earnings blew past the consensus as quarterly net inflows reached a new record. Q3 long-term quarterly total net inflows of $221B surged from $82B in the previous quarter, bringing year-to-date net inflows to $360B.

Wells Fargo (WFC) Q3 earnings also topped the Wall Street consensus as strength in its fee-based revenue over the first nine months of 2024 helped to offset net interest income headwinds.

Among consumer companies, both Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) and PepsiCo (PEP) beat EPS expectations but missed revenue estimates.

Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) slipped in early trading after falling slightly short of revenue estimates with its Q3 earnings report and setting cautious guidance. The pizza chain operator reported revenue increased 4.9% to $1.08 billion in the quarter, which was short of the consensus estimate by $20 million.

PepsiCo (PEP) also traded lower in early action on Tuesday after missing estimates with its Q3 earnings report and guiding for a low-single-digit increase in organic revenue.

Organic revenue was up 1.3% for the quarter, falling short of the consensus expectation of +3% and last year’s mark of +8.8%.

Among the eight S&P companies that reported earnings, only Delta Air Lines (DAL) missed its EPS expectations. Delta Air Lines reported earnings per share of $1.50 vs. $1.55 consensus. The airline’s Q4 revenue and EPS guidance also fell short of consensus estimates.

For the upcoming week, more than 30 S&P 500 names are scheduled to report results, with the likes of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) on Tuesday. Wednesday is expected to include Abbott (NYSE:ABT), Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI), and US Bancorp (NYSE:USB).

Thursday would see Blackstone (NYSE:BX), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), and Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) put out their earnings. Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), and Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) will post their results on Friday.

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