Why Investors Need to Take Advantage of These 2 Utilities 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.

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.

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.

Bringing together a positive earnings ESP alongside a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better has helped stocks report a positive earnings surprise 70% of the time. Furthermore, by using these parameters, investors have seen 28.3% 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 Atmos Energy?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Atmos Energy (ATO) earns a #3 (Hold) one day from its next quarterly earnings release on February 3, 2026, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $2.42 a share.

Atmos Energy's Earnings ESP sits at +0.49%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $2.42 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.41. ATO is also part of a large group of stocks that boast a positive ESP. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

ATO is just one of a large group of Utilities stocks with a positive ESP figure. American Electric Power (AEP) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.

American Electric Power, which is readying to report earnings on February 12, 2026, sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) right now. Its Most Accurate Estimate is currently $1.18 a share, and AEP is 10 days out from its next earnings report.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Electric Power is $1.16, and when you take the percentage difference between that number and its Most Accurate Estimate, you get the Earnings ESP figure of +2.08%.

ATO and AEP's positive ESP figures tell us that both stocks have a good chance at beating analyst expectations in their next earnings report.

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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