Look beyond quarterly earnings for long-term investment opportunities

  • Wall Street’s favorite stocks in the sector expected to grow profits the most in 2024
  • Look beyond quarterly earnings season for better investment opportunities
  • Earnings beat rate is typical and may not indicate true success
  • Investors should focus on companies expected to grow annual profits in 2024
  • Healthcare sector tops the list of sectors expected to increase EPS quickly
  • Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF provides broad exposure to healthcare sector
  • 21 healthcare stocks with potential for growth and majority ‘buy’ ratings

Each earnings reporting season, companies ‘beat’ consensus estimates for quarterly profits, but this alone means nothing. Investors should focus on companies expected to grow annual profits in 2024. The healthcare sector tops the list of sectors expected to increase EPS quickly. For investors looking for broad exposure, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF provides a good option. Additionally, there are 21 healthcare stocks with potential for growth and majority ‘buy’ ratings.

Public Companies: Humana Inc. (HUM), Elevance Health Inc. (ELV), Incyte Corp. (INCY), Insulet Corp. (PODD), Cigna Group (CI), Zoetis Inc. Class A (ZTS), UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH), ResMed Inc. (RMD), DexCom Inc. (DXCM), West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (WST), GE Healthcare Technologies Inc. (GEHC), Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX), Stryker Corp. (SYK), McKesson Corp. (MCK), Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK), Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW), Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG), Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY), Align Technology Inc. (ALGN), Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX)
Private Companies:
Key People:


Factuality Level: 7
Justification: The article provides information about the upcoming U.S. earnings season and offers insights into the sectors that are expected to have the highest growth in earnings. The information is based on estimates from FactSet. However, the article does not provide any sources or data to support the claim that companies intentionally underestimate their earnings to set up beats. Additionally, the article includes a list of individual healthcare stocks with their expected EPS growth and analyst ratings, but it does not provide any analysis or explanation for why these stocks are expected to perform well.

Noise Level: 6
Justification: The article provides information on the upcoming U.S. earnings season and suggests that investors should look ahead to 2024 for companies expected to grow annual profits the most. It also provides a sector screen for investors interested in the healthcare sector and lists individual healthcare stocks with potential upside. However, the article lacks scientific rigor and intellectual honesty as it does not provide evidence or data to support its claims. It also dives into unrelated territories by mentioning an ETF’s strategy without providing further explanation or analysis.

Financial Relevance: Yes
Financial Markets Impacted: The article provides information on the expected change in earnings-per-share (EPS) for different sectors of the S&P 500. It also mentions the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF as a potential investment option.

Presence of Extreme Event: No
Nature of Extreme Event: No
Impact Rating of the Extreme Event: No
Justification: The article focuses on financial topics such as earnings reports, expected changes in EPS, and investment opportunities. However, it does not mention any extreme events or their impacts.

Reported publicly: www.marketwatch.com