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Investing.com -- U.S. companies posted their strongest earnings beats in more than three years during the second quarter, according to Jefferies, with small caps on track to outperform larger peers by the next reporting season.
Jefferies said the “difference between actual & consensus earnings growth is 12.3%, the widest spread since 1Q’22.”
The firm noted that over 80% of small caps have reported so far, and earnings are now expected to finish in positive territory versus consensus forecasts of a 2.1% decline. Excluding energy, small-cap earnings growth would reach 6.6%.
“For companies that reported, half have beaten consensus by one standard deviation or more, less than 16% have disappointed,” Jefferies wrote.
The firm said small-cap revenue was also likely to end in the black, with performance broadly rewarding companies that exceeded expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
Mid-cap results were described as solid, though less robust than small caps. Jefferies said mid-cap earnings were running 6.3% ahead of consensus, but profits were still forecast to fall 0.7%.
Meanwhile, large caps showed a split between the strongest performers and the broader market.
Jefferies noted that its “Sweet 16” group of companies posted earnings growth of 24.3% on sales growth of 14.8%, while the rest of the S&P 500 delivered 7.6% profit growth on 4.9% sales growth. Overall, the earnings gap versus consensus for large caps stood at 8.7%, the best since the third quarter of 2021.
Jefferies reiterated its view that small caps will surpass large caps in the third quarter, adding that “a change in earnings should shift the leadership of the market to small and mid outperforming large.”