Emerging from the first earnings season of 2025, a picture of a cooling market has become increasingly clear. Companies across sectors signaled caution in their forward guidance, with 59% of S&P 500 companies issuing negative earnings per share (EPS) guidance for the current year as of March 7, 2025. As a result, the projected earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 for the first quarter of the year is 7.3%, 3.1% below the five-year average.
With concerns about tariffs a major theme on earnings calls regardless of sector, investors may have a hard time finding companies that are especially optimistic about their upcoming performance. Fortunately, though, some diamonds in the rough do exist.
