Companies in the S&P 500 are beating earnings estimates at the lowest rate in nearly two years, a trend that could point to declines for the US stocks benchmark.
Nearly a third of the way through the reporting season, about 75% of firms have posted profits for July to September that exceeded analysts’ expectations, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence. That’s the weakest showing since the fourth quarter of 2022 and comes even as estimates were lowered ahead of the season.