It seems buyback deceleration continued in 2Q17. Based on results from 85 percent of S&P 500 companies, S&P Dow Jones Indices points out that buybacks are on course for a 10.4-percent decline quarter-over-quarter. Buybacks were $133.2 billion in 1Q17. In … Continued
Dividends are a good source of income for Americans. Since Great Recession ended, U.S. personal income rose 35 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $16.4 trillion in 2Q17, while dividend income jumped 72.3 percent to $968.8 billion. Dividend … Continued
As of last Thursday, a little over four-fifths of S&P 500 companies reported 2Q17 results. Of the 422 companies, 70.1 percent beat on operating earnings, 20.6 percent missed and 9.2 percent met, as per S&P Dow Jones Indices. In the … Continued
Amidst 2Q17 earnings and elevated multiples, some signs of fatigue are showing up on major U.S. indices. As of last Thursday, 2Q17 operating earnings of S&P 500 companies were on course for $30.70. In the year-ago quarter, they were $25.70 … Continued
As of last Friday, per S&P Dow Jones Indices estimates, 1Q17 sales of S&P 500 companies were $293.82/share. This amounts to a decline of 2.4 percent quarter-over-quarter, but year-over-year sales were up 7.2 percent. This was the fastest quarterly growth … Continued
Earnings season is upon us. Operating earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to rise from $23.97 in 1Q16 to $29.14 in 1Q17 – an increase of 21.6 percent. This followed a 21-percent year-over-year rise in 4Q16 – from $23.06 … Continued
Stocks keep making new highs, and earnings keep getting downwardly revised. That about sums up the current state of affairs in U.S. equities. With momentum as strong as it is, markets have turned a blind eye to multiples. Consequently, the … Continued
The S&P 500 large cap index trades at 21.3 times operating earnings or 17.4 times or 15.5 times. Take your pick. The first one uses trailing 12-month earnings, and the latter two forward. In Chart 1, the red bars are … Continued
Quite a year 2016 turned out to be! Stocks did not quite get off the starting blocks in an ideal fashion. The S&P 500 large cap index opened 2016 down 1.5 percent on January 4 (was down as much as … Continued
Equity bears have been rewarded the past couple of weeks, with the S&P 500 large cap index down 1.6 percent. There is likely more reward medium term, but near-term is a toss-up. In the wake of the 2.5-percent drop on … Continued