Yesterday Factset's senior earnings analyst John Butters gave us a broad overview of what to expect as Q2 earnings season ramps up. Today he's back with three of the hottest sectors and one to avoid if you're an earnings watcher.
Telecom - Butters says telecom is the sector expecting the biggest gainst at 22%. Dig a little deeper and he says investors will see the story is all about Verizon (VZ). "Verizon overall is expecting EPS growth of 25%," Butters says, "and if we take Verizon out of the mix that 22% growth rate dips down to a decline of eight percent."
Consumer Discretionary - Butters admits the sector has has a less than stellar year and that it is a bit of a wildcard pick. "If we look at that sector it's one of the ones that seen the largest cuts to estimates overall," he notes. "That being said it's still expecting the second highest growth at about nine percent. If we look at it across the subindustries in the sector, there are 32 overall, 25 are expecting growth so fairly broad-based growth across the sector." As for the sunindustries he says Casino and gaming, homebuilders, and internet retail are all poised for growth above 20%.
Energy - Last among Butters three winning picks he notes energy is expecting it's first quarter of growth in a year at 8.5% for Q2. Again it comes down to the subindustries, notably refining and marketing which he says will buoy lagging coal and consumable fuels.
As for the one and only sector expected to decline this earnings season:
Financials - Butters says the industry is looking for a 3% decline fueled mainly by the big banks. "If we look at some of the big names in that sector, Citigroup, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs all expecting year over year EPS declines at this point in time," he says.
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