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.

2 Stocks to Add to Your Watchlist

The Zacks Earnings ESP, or Expected Surprise Prediction, aims to find earnings surprises by focusing on the most recent analyst revisions. The basic premise is that if an analyst reevaluates their earnings estimate ahead of an earnings release, it means they likely have new information that could possibly be more accurate. 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 final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. American Express (AXP) earns a Zacks Rank #2 14 days from its next quarterly earnings release on October 18, 2024, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $3.30 a share.

By taking the percentage difference between the $3.30 Most Accurate Estimate and the $3.27 Zacks Consensus Estimate, American Express has an Earnings ESP of 0.92%.

AXP is one of just a large database of Finance stocks with positive ESPs. Another solid-looking stock is Trustmark (TRMK).

Trustmark is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock, and is getting ready to report earnings on October 22, 2024. TRMK's Most Accurate Estimate sits at $0.84 a share 18 days from its next earnings release.

For Trustmark, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.83 is 0.6%.

Because both stocks hold a positive Earnings ESP, AXP and TRMK 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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American Express Company (AXP) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Trustmark Corporation (TRMK) : Free Stock Analysis Report