Earnings rise across most S&P 500 sectors in Q4 2023

Most S&P 500 sectors reported earnings growth in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to a year earlier, according to the latest S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Energy companies led other sectors with the highest year-over-year EPS gain at 42.9% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. Consumer discretionary companies followed closely behind at 36.5% annual growth.

Sectorwide EPS figures declined the most for communication services companies at a 23% fall and for utilities companies with a 21.4% drop.

Large, midsize S&P 500 companies

Healthcare and industrials companies accounted for four of the top five S&P 500 companies with a market cap over $100 billion that beat analysts' normalized EPS expectations by the greatest margins for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Pharmaceutical giants Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. Inc. reported actual earnings per share 154.7% and 127.5% above the consensus estimate, respectively, while Uber Technologies Inc. and The Boeing Co. beat estimates by 110.7% and 40.3%.

The median S&P 500 company with a market cap over $100 billion beat EPS estimates by 4.6%, compared to 3.3% for S&P 500 constituents with a market cap between $30 billion and $100 billion.

Among those midsize S&P 500 constituents, agriculture company Corteva Inc. and pharmaceutical company Moderna Inc. recorded the greatest percentage difference between actual and estimated EPS for the fourth quarter at 170% and 155.6%, respectively.

Two consumer discretionary companies — Ford Motor Co. and Marriott International Inc. — were also among the top five midsize S&P 500 companies to beat EPS estimates by significant margins. Ford's actual EPS surpassed estimates by 137.7%, while Marriott beat estimates by 68.2%.

Small S&P 500 companies

The difference between actual and estimated EPS was particularly stark among top performers in the small-sized category with market caps below $30 billion. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC's quarterly normalized EPS was nearly 300% higher than forecasts for a loss per share of 6 cents. Airline companies American Airlines Group Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. beat estimates by 265.6% and 176.6%, respectively.

The median S&P 500 company with a market cap under $30 billion beat EPS estimates for the fourth quarter by 4.3%.

Largest misses

Healthcare companies Catalent Inc. and Humana Inc. and consumer discretionary companies Caesars Entertainment Inc. and Airbnb Inc. were among the top five companies with the greatest EPS misses for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Catalent's actual loss per share was more than 12 times greater than estimates, with a similar miss for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.