What are we looking for?
Second-quarter earnings season is upon us. Let's look at what Canadian sectors have the best earnings momentum.
How we did the screen
For today's Number Cruncher, we used StarMine, which gathers earnings estimates data from analysts. We looked at how much earnings estimates have risen or fallen in the past 30 and 60 days for each of Canada's 10 main sectors. We looked at estimates for the next quarter, the next four quarters and the next eight quarters. We sorted the sectors by how much the estimates for the next quarter have risen or fallen over the past 30 days. We also screened only for mid- to large-capitalization companies, with market caps greater than $1-billion (U.S.).
What did we find out?
As you can see from the table, the earnings outlook for energy stocks has improved over the past 30 days. Analysts will often update their estimates for oil stocks once a quarter is finished and they have an average oil price for the quarter. Oil has fallen sharply over the past couple weeks since the quarter ended, so the stocks have been hit hard even though earnings estimates are up.
If you're looking for individual stocks in the oil sector that have the most earnings estimate revision momentum recently, look to Baytex Energy Trust, Addax Petroleum Corp., Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd., Vermilion Energy Trust and Suncor Energy Inc.