© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., May 22, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
NEW YORK (Reuters) – After a series of much stronger-than-expected results this reporting period, companies look like they will end up with first-quarter earnings essentially unchanged from a year ago.
Based on Refinitiv data Friday that included results from 494 of the S&P 500, earnings now are estimated to have dipped just 0.01% year over year.
That was an improvement from a week ago, when the estimated earnings decline was at 0.1%. At the start of April, analysts had forecast a 5.1% drop in earnings for the quarter.
If the estimate stays at the current level, the first quarter still would technically mark a second straight quarterly fall for U.S. corporate earnings, or an “earnings recession,” which last occurred when COVID-19 hit corporate results in 2020.
Among companies that handily beat analysts’ earnings expectations when they reported this week was NetApp Inc (NASDAQ:).
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