Why Investors Need to Take Advantage of These 2 Aerospace Stocks Now

Wall Street watches a company's quarterly report closely to understand as much as possible about its recent performance and what to expect going forward. Of course, one figure often stands out among the rest: earnings.

We know earnings results are vital, but how a company performs compared to bottom line expectations can be even more important when it comes to stock prices, especially in the near-term. This means that investors might want to take advantage of these earnings surprises.

Now that we know how important earnings and earnings surprises are, it's time to show investors how to take advantage of these events to boost their returns by utilizing the Zacks Earnings ESP filter.

The Zacks Earnings ESP, Explained

The Zacks Expected Surprise Prediction, or ESP, works by locking in on the most up-to-date analyst earnings revisions because they can be more accurate than estimates from weeks or even months before the actual release date. The thinking is pretty straightforward: analysts who provide earnings estimates closer to the report are likely to have more information.

The core of the ESP model is comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, where the resulting percentage difference between the two equals the Expected Surprise Prediction. The Zacks Rank is also factored into the ESP metric to better help find companies that appear poised to top their next bottom-line consensus estimate, which will hopefully help lift the stock price.

In fact, when we combined a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time. Perhaps most importantly, using these parameters has helped produce 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest.

Most stocks, about 60%, fall into the #3 (Hold) category, and they are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. Stocks with a #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy) rating, or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market, with Strong Buy stocks outperforming more than any other rank.

Should You Consider GE Aerospace?

The last thing we will do today, now that we have a grasp on the ESP and how powerful of a tool it can be, is to quickly look at a qualifying stock. GE Aerospace (GE) holds a #3 (Hold) at the moment and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $1.47 a share 12 days away from its upcoming earnings release on October 21, 2025.

GE has an Earnings ESP figure of +1.80%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $1.47 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.44. GE Aerospace is one of a large database of stocks with positive ESPs. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

GE is part of a big group of Aerospace stocks that boast a positive ESP, and investors may want to take a look at AeroVironment (AVAV) as well.

Slated to report earnings on December 3, 2025, AeroVironment holds a #3 (Hold) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and its Most Accurate Estimate is $0.87 a share 55 days from its next quarterly update.

AeroVironment's Earnings ESP figure currently stands at +4.77% after taking the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.83.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, GE and AVAV could potentially post earnings beats in their next reports.

Find Stocks to Buy or Sell Before They're Reported

Use the Zacks Earnings ESP Filter to turn up stocks with the highest probability of positively, or negatively, surprising to buy or sell before they're reported for profitable earnings season trading. Check it out here >>

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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