News

It’s been almost a month since big banks kicked off the Q1 earnings season which has seen modest growth with JPMorgan JPM and Wells Fargo WFC contributing in this regard. Outside of JPMorgan and Wells Fargo making headlines, tech stocks have largely upheld the earnings growth for the period thanks to the Magnificent Seven in particular.

That said, several stocks from a variety of sectors are starting to stand out after posting strong EPS growth for the quarter and beating earnings expectations on Wednesday.

Atmos Energy ATO: Out of the energy sector, Atmos Energy is a regulated natural gas distributor that posted earnings of $2.85 a share for what was its fiscal second quarter, beating EPS estimates by 9% and spiking 16% from $2.48 per share a year ago.

Serving more than $3 million customers across eight states, it's also noteworthy that Atmos Energy raised its fiscal 2024 EPS guidance to $6.70 -$6.80 which now comes in above the current Zacks Consensus of $6.60 per share or 8% growth.

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LousianaPacific LPX: Among the construction sector, Louisiana-Pacific is a leading manufacturer of wood building materials, structural framing products, and exterior siding that saw its Q1 EPS soar 350% to $1.53 compared to $0.34 a share in the comparative quarter. This crushed the Zacks Consensus of $1.13 a share by 35% with Louisiana-Pacific’s increased profitability being driven by strong demand for its siding and oriented strand board businesses (OSB).

Notably, Louisiana-Pacific raised its full-year guidance for revenue growth by 300 basis points to projections of 11-13% growth and increased full-year EBITDA expectations to $340-$360 million at a projected margin of around 23%.

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Maximus MMS: Hailing from the business services sector, Maximus is a government health and human services program operator that posted earnings of $1.57 per share for its fiscal second quarter which beat EPS estimates of $1.31 by 20% and climbed 96% from $0.80 a share in the comparative quarter.

Strong demand and elevated volumes in federal service programs including those tied to Medicaid redetermination led to Maximus raising its guidance for the second time this year including its EPS range which it now expects at $5.65-$5.85 and above the current Zacks Consensus of $5.42 per share or 41% growth.

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Robinhood Markets HOOD: Rounding out the list, we will jump to the finance sector with security broker Robinhood Markets’ Q1 EPS coming in at $0.18 and crushing estimates of $0.05 per share while swinging from an adjusted loss of -$0.57 a share in the prior-year quarter.

Other highlights included Robinhood posting quarterly records for net deposits at $11.2 billion and sales at $618 million. As the company continues to focus on increasing its market share since going public in 2021, it's noteworthy that Q1 sales climbed 40% from $441 million a year ago and beat estimates of $544.7 million by 13%.

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Bottom Line

Showcasing impressive growth on their bottom lines, earnings estimate revisions are likely to trend higher for these companies after beating EPS estimates. This makes now an ideal time to buy their stocks as they look poised to move higher in the following weeks.

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