Look for Many—But Smaller—Upside Surprises

We have used most of the superlatives we know to describe corporate America’s stunning performances over the past two earnings seasons. Despite lofty expectations, results exceeded estimates by the biggest margins we’ve ever seen (and one of the authors of this report has been doing this for 23 years). We expect solid earnings gains during the upcoming third-quarter earnings season, but upside surprises will be smaller.  “Looking out to 2022, prospects for above-average economic growth and further earnings gains potentially point to another good year for stock investors, though probably not as good as 2021 has been,” says Jeff Buchbinder, CFA, Equity Strategist, LPL Financial. Read more.