How to Boost Your Portfolio with Top Consumer Discretionary Stocks Set to Beat Earnings

Earnings are arguably the most important single number on a company's quarterly financial report. Wall Street clearly dives into all of the other metrics and management's input, but the EPS figure helps cut through all the noise.

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.

Hunting for 'earnings whispers' or companies poised to beat their quarterly earnings estimates is a somewhat common practice. But that doesn't make it easy. One way that has been proven to work is by using the Zacks Earnings ESP tool.

The Zacks Earnings ESP, Explained

The Zacks Earnings ESP is more formally known as the Expected Surprise Prediction, and it aims to grab the inside track on the latest analyst estimate revisions ahead of a company's report. The idea is relatively intuitive as a newer projection might be based on more complete information.

With this in mind, the Expected Surprise Prediction compares the Most Accurate Estimate (being the most recent) against the overall Zacks Consensus Estimate. The percentage difference provides the ESP figure. The system also utilizes our core Zacks Rank to provide a stronger system for identifying stocks that might beat their next quarterly earnings estimate and possibly see the stock price climb.

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 AMC Entertainment?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. AMC Entertainment (AMC) earns a #3 (Hold) six days from its next quarterly earnings release on November 5, 2025, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at -$0.16 a share.

By taking the percentage difference between the -$0.16 Most Accurate Estimate and the -$0.17 Zacks Consensus Estimate, AMC Entertainment has an Earnings ESP of +2.49%. Investors should also know that AMC is one of a large group 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.

AMC is just one of a large group of Consumer Discretionary stocks with a positive ESP figure. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.

Warner Bros. Discovery is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock, and is getting ready to report earnings on November 6, 2025. WBD's Most Accurate Estimate sits at -$0.03 a share seven days from its next earnings release.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Warner Bros. Discovery is -$0.04, and when you take the percentage difference between that number and its Most Accurate Estimate, you get the Earnings ESP figure of +35.00%.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, AMC and WBD 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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