We’re thirteen days into the first quarter of 2021, but it won’t be until tomorrow when we’ll see multiple S&P 500 companies all come out and report their latest earnings results.  As shown in the table below, seven S&P 500 companies will be reporting results on Thursday and Friday.  Things kick off tomorrow with results from BlackRock (BLK), Delta (DAL), and First Republic (FRC), while on Friday morning four large banks will all give us a look at how they fared in the fourth quarter.

Using performance results from our Earnings Database, none of the companies scheduled to report have tended to see particularly impressive reactions to their results.  Of the seven companies listed, just two—BLK and DAL—have seen average one-day gains of more than 1% on their earnings reaction days, while three—FRC, C, and PNC—have actually averaged declines.  In terms of their actual results relative to expectations, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has exceeded EPS forecasts more than 80% of the time while PNC has topped revenue forecasts just under 70% of the time.  With respect to guidance, none of these companies reporting have historically been known for issuing upside guidance.  On that front, PNC tops the list, but it has issued upside guidance in an earnings report less than 3% of the time.

What can we expect to see from the market as earnings season progresses?  Make sure to check our quarterly preview of the upcoming earnings season for a look at how analyst sentiment tends to impact market performance during earnings season. For anyone with more than a passing interest in what to expect from the market during earnings season, make sure you check out this report.  To see it, sign up for a monthly Bespoke Premium membership now!