Investing.com - Stock performances have been "lackluster" after companies have posted results during the latest quarterly earnings season, while equities have been "heavily penalized" if their figures miss estimates, according to analysts at Jefferies.
As the fourth-quarter reporting period nears its close, 76% of S&P 500 firms who have unveiled returns so far have delivered better-than-anticipated profit, compared with 74% in the third quarter.
Telecoms, staples retail, technology hardware and chipmakers have led the higher-than-projected earnings, while the laggards have included discretionary retail, utilities, automotive, and consumer services.
Yet those companies who have unveiled earnings beats have "rarely" also rolled out upgraded income estimates, while misses have led to "substantial cuts," the Jefferies analysts flagged in a note to clients. They added that most sectors are witnessing estimate downgrades, with a sizeable amount coming in the autos, durable goods and materials segments.
"Guidance is not encouraging with stocks underperforming even when they beat expectations, while misses were heavily penalized," the analysts led by Desh Peramunetilleke wrote.
The relatively downbeat expectations come despite hopes that the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will usher in an era of looser regulations and tax cuts that will help bolster profits.
Analysts have flagged that fears over the potential inflationary impact of Trump's sweeping tariff plans may be contributing to murkiness in the broader economic outlook. Recent data have pointed to lingering U.S. price growth, as well as sliding consumer sentiment.
Still, S&P 500 companies are on track to have lifted fourth-quarter earnings by 15.4% compared to a year earlier, versus expectations of a 9.6% jump as of January 1, according to LSEG IBES data cited by Reuters. Key reports are due out from retail giant Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and artificial intelligence-darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) in the coming days.
The Jefferies analysts said they continue to prefer growth stocks -- or companies expected to increase their earnings -- over under-rated value options in 2025, adding that they are screening for growth names with recent beats and guidance upgrades. These included e-commerce titan Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), streaming video service Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), Wall Street banks like Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Goldman Sachs, and retailer Costco (NASDAQ:COST).