S&P 500 earnings season is kicking off. And some companies are expected to put up some huge numbers — even bigger than Nvidia's.
Seven S&P 500 stocks — including Eli Lilly, Allstate and Zebra Technologies — in just weeks are seen reporting 96% or higher adjusted profit for the third quarter, says an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSurge.
That's impressive given that analysts see profit at the AI wunderkind growing "only" 84.1%. For a point of comparison, earnings in the S&P 500 as a whole are expected to rise 4.2% for the quarter, says John Butters of FactSet.
A Big Quarter For S&P 500 Earnings Coming
If S&P 500 profit materializes as expected, it would mark the fifth straight quarter of profit growth for the index.
But the third-quarter profit period is pivotal for the S&P 500. The index is trading for 21.4 times expected profit. That's a rich valuation, Butter says. It's well above the S&P 500's 18-times expected profit in the past 10 years on average.
And nowhere are hopes as high than with Eli Lilly. Analysts think the maker of weight-loss drugs will earn $4.51 a share in the third quarter of 2024. If that's right, it would be 4,407% growth from the same year-ago period. That's higher than the expected growth in the period of any other company in the S&P 500. The stock is up 57% this year.
Insurance And Tech Hot, Too
Allstate is another big profit growth story. The company is seen making $3.17 a share in the third quarter, thanks to rising premiums across lines of business. That represents 291.5% growth. Not bad for a stock already up 30.7% this year.
Not far behind is the well-run Zebra Technologies. The maker of custom mobile systems is expected to earn $3.23 a share in the quarter. That would be an impressive gain of 271%. Shares are up 35% this year.
Of course, the reporting season will last a few weeks. And some companies won't size up to expectations. Already, 60 S&P 600 companies warned that their quarters are weaker than expected.
But for now, investors are likely to see great growth from some S&P 500 companies.
Highest Expected S&P 500 Profit Growth
For the third quarter of 2024
| Company | Ticker | Q3 EPS growth (est.) | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eli Lilly | LLY | 4,406.9% | Health Care |
| Allstate | ALL | 291.5% | Financials |
| Zebra Technologies | ZBRA | 270.9% | Information Technology |
| Clorox | CLX | 183.7% | Consumer Staples |
| Newmont | NEM | 128.6% | Materials |
| SBA Communications | SBAC | 115.4% | Real Estate |
| Super Micro Computer | SMCI | 114.4% | Information Technology |
| Travelers | TRV | 96.2% | Financials |
