Earnings season for the second quarter is essentially over. S&P 500Operating EPS plunged 23% but earnings problems are still concentrated within a few industry groups: Financials and auto and housing-related. Ex-Financial EPS was +6%.

This report is a preliminary analysis of first quarter earnings for the S&P 500, with 80% of firms reported.

DE top-down earnings forecast shows S&P 500 Operating EPS growing above long term trend even as economy slows: 16% in 2006, 9.4% in 2007 and 8% to 9% in 2008. This is more optimistic than Street strategists, but slightly below bottom-up analysts’ consensus, who earlier downgraded energy sector earnings for the coming year after this autumn’s price declines

EPS for the S&P500 grew a spectacular 20% in the third quarter, according to estimates derived from 80% of the companies that have reported to date. 75% of reported companies beat estimates by an average of about 6 percentage points, well above any historical pattern.

Second quarter S&P 500 earnings growth looks super so far—likely to exceed the 14.7% performance seen in the first quarter. With two-thirds of companies in, and using consensus estimates for the others, the pace is currently 16.9%, hardly the slowdown that had been projected earlier this year.

* This report updates the DE top-down forecasts for S&P500 sectors and industries. * DE top-down forecast update shows S&P 500 Operating EPS growing above long term trend even as economy slows: 11% in 2006 and 9% in 2007.

Modest dollar decline already embedded in current sector allocations. Probability of steeper decline rises. Maintain: Overweight for Industrials, Energy, Technology; Capital Goods (in Industrials) could be upgraded further if dollar decline steepens. Market-weight for Materials.

S&P 500 earnings and margins were remarkably strong in the first quarter. With over 60% of firms reported, earnings growth is running more than 14% above last year (using estimates for companies not yet reported), ...

Given concerns early in the fourth quarter earnings season, results were quite respectable, even after accounting for huge windfall profits in the Energy Sector.

S&P500 Profit Margins Boost Industry Earnings-Will It Continue?