Two-thirds of the 15 members of the S&P 500 that have reported calendar fourth-quarter 2019 earnings as of Jan. 2 surpassed Wall Street's expectations.

Altogether, the companies reported a 4.9% EPS surprise for the fourth quarter and six companies posted at least 10% growth in EPS year over year.

Among the 11 S&P 500 sectors, five are expected to show year-over-year EPS gains for the quarter and six are expected to report declines. The utilities sector is expected to post the largest gain at 11.8% year over year, while EPS is expected to decline by 33.9% in the energy sector.