Top And Bottom Line Beat Rates Strong But Down A Bit From Prior Quarters

More than 2,000 companies have now reported their Q2 earnings results, and as we show below, 65.6% of companies have beaten bottom-line consensus analyst EPS estimates. The 65.6% EPS beat rate this season is above the average of just over 60% that we’ve seen going back to 1999, but it’s definitely down from the stronger readings seen over the prior two quarters.

The top-line revenue beat rate is also down versus the prior two quarters. As shown below, this season we’ve seen 67.5% of companies beat top-line consensus revenue estimates.

Even though the top and bottom line beat rates are above their long-term averages, we have seen a slowdown from the extremely high readings seen over the prior two quarters.