NEW YORK (Reuters) – A record high percentage of U.S. companies are beating analysts’ forecasts this earnings season, giving investors a glimmer of hope in what is still expected to be the slowest profit period since the financial crisis.

More than halfway through second-quarter earnings, 82.1% of companies reporting have surpassed profit expectations, which would be the highest in the history of Refinitiv IBES data going back to 1994.

What’s more, the size of the beats is well above what is typical. S&P 500 companies have beaten earnings expectations by a whopping 21.7%, also set to be the highest on record since 1994, based on Refinitiv’s data as of Friday. Read more…

Chart Of The Day

Icarus TV

The Australian share market has ended the week with its biggest fall in more than a month. Concerns about rising coronavirus cases and the US economy rattled investors, but the big tech companies powered ahead.