Why Investors Need to Take Advantage of These 2 Consumer Staples Stocks Now

Quarterly financial reports play a vital role on Wall Street, as they help investors see how a company has performed and what might be coming down the road in the near-term. And out of all of the metrics and results to consider, earnings is one of the most important.

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.

The ability to identify stocks that are likely to top quarterly earnings expectations can be profitable, but it's no simple task. Here at Zacks, our Earnings ESP filter helps make things easier.

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.

Now that we understand the basic idea, let's look at how the Expected Surprise Prediction works. The ESP is calculated by comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, with the percentage difference between the two giving us the Zacks ESP figure.

When we join a positive earnings ESP with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or stronger, stocks posted a positive bottom-line surprise 70% of the time. Plus, this system saw investors produce roughly 28% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest.

Stocks with a #3 (Hold) ranking, which is most stocks covered at 60%, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. But stocks that fall into the #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy) ranking, or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market. Strong Buy stocks should outperform more than any other rank.

Should You Consider Monster Beverage?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Monster Beverage (MNST) earns a #3 (Hold) 28 days from its next quarterly earnings release on February 26, 2026, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $0.58 a share.

MNST has an Earnings ESP figure of +17.16%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $0.58 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.5. Monster Beverage 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.

MNST is part of a big group of Consumer Staples stocks that boast a positive ESP, and investors may want to take a look at Hershey (HSY) as well.

Hershey is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, and is getting ready to report earnings on February 5, 2026. HSY's Most Accurate Estimate sits at $1.43 a share seven days from its next earnings release.

Hershey's Earnings ESP figure currently stands at +1.66% after taking the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.40.

MNST and HSY's positive ESP metrics may signal that a positive earnings surprise for both stocks is on the horizon.

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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