Bank of America review of US stock earnings season: second week stable without surprises, higher-than-expected ratio declines compared to previous week.

Bank of America Corp's global research team stated that the second week of the US earnings season delivered steady but not outstanding results, with the overall trend remaining stable and not showing a clear acceleration towards improvement. Following a relatively quiet round of earnings disclosures, Bank of America noted that 64 companies in the S&P 500 index have reported earnings (accounting for approximately 18% of the index's total profits), and performance indicators are relatively flat compared to last week. Among the companies that have reported earnings, about 70% exceeded earnings per share expectations, a higher proportion than the historical average of 64% for the second week of earnings season, but lower than the 79% exceeding expectations rate in the previous quarter. Bank of America emphasized that the overall average earnings beat rate is around 7%, slightly lower than the 8% level from the same period in the previous earnings season. Based on a combination of reported earnings and analysts' forecasts, the market's general expectation for fourth-quarter earnings per share growth is around 7%, consistent with last week. Bank of America Corp predicts that the final year-on-year earnings per share growth rate for the fourth quarter will be close to 11%, and suggests that there are still upward risks. The pace of earnings disclosures will significantly accelerate this week, with over 100 S&P 500 component companies (accounting for about a third of the index's total profits) planning to announce earnings. This week will also be the second busiest week of this earnings season. The technology sector will be the focus of the earnings season, with Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US), Meta Platforms (META.US), Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US), and Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) all set to report earnings.