Earnings season is following an oft-repeated pattern 🤣

'Better-than-expected' still doesn't mean much 🤷🏻‍♂️

Most companies are beating expectations. (Source: Deutsche Bank)

Most companies usually beat analysts’ forecasts when reporting quarterly earnings. It’s one of the most consistent patterns in market history.

So it should be no surprise that with 251 of the S&P 500 companies having now announced their quarterly earnings, most companies have reported financial results that have exceeded expectations.

“82% of companies have beat, well ahead of the 74% historically,” Deutsche Bank’s Binky Chadha observed on Friday.

As Chadha’s chart above shows, there’s never been a quarter in the past 17 years in which most companies didn’t beat expectations. Indeed, “better-than-expected“ in this context has lost its meaning.