Twenty-one companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings for the third calendar quarter as of Oct. 4. Of those, 86% have reported earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence's analyst polling.
Collectively, the 21 constituents have reported an EPS surprise of 6.4% for the third quarter.
The blended growth rate for the S&P 500, which reflects all sectors on an aggregate level, for the third calendar quarter is down 3.9% as of Oct. 4. Sectors leading the growth trend include financials with 2.3%, healthcare with 1.8% and industrials with 1.1%.
Companies that are expected to report the largest earnings growth for the third quarter include Welltower Inc. with 342.6%, CF Industries Holdings Inc. with 264.9% and SBA Communications Corp. with 151.2%.
Companies with the most upward revisions for the quarter include Seagate Technology PLC with 20 upward revisions, Cboe Global Markets Inc. and CME Group Inc. with 10 upward revisions each.
Meanwhile, companies expected to report the largest percentage change in EPS for the third quarter include Seagate Technology PLC with 9.6%, Newmont Goldcorp Corp. with 9.3% and MarketAxess Holdings Inc. with 8.6%.
Companies with the greatest potential upside based on S&P Capital IQ consensus target prices as of Oct. 4 include DXC Technology Co. with 83.8%, Concho Resources Inc. with 72.5% and Diamondback Energy Inc. with 65.3%.
Costco Wholesale Corp. reported earnings of $2.69 per share, well above the consensus estimate of $2.55 per share. Earnings grew by 14.0%, year over year. The company reported total revenue of $47.50 billion, below the consensus estimate of $47.71 billion. Total revenue however surged by 7.0% year over year.

PepsiCo Inc. reported earnings of $1.56 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 per share. Earnings were down 1.9%, year over year. The company reported total revenue of $17.19 billion, well above the consensus estimate of $16.93 billion. Total revenue grew by 4.3% year over year.





