by Frank Holmes
It’s earnings season once again, and though only a quarter of the Russell 1000 has reported so far, the news is just north of positive. All signs indicate that the market has dusted itself off and is back to its cheerful self after a ho-hum first quarter, which was negatively affected by harsh winter weather.
In the chart below, you can see that 73 percent of the companies that have reported as of this writing exceed their earnings per share (EPS) beat rate. The beat rate, as you might know, is the rate at which companies surpass market analysts’ published estimates. The revenue beat rate, meanwhile, sits at 67 percent, a positive surprise above the long-term median of 63 percent.