Third-quarter earnings are off to a promising start, and some companies reporting this week have momentum on their side. About 7% of S & P 500 companies have reported earnings thus far. Of those companies, 81% have exceeded analyst expectations, according to FactSet. Another 10% of S & P 500 companies is due to report earnings this week, with Netflix and Tesla as major headliners. It will also be a big week for the financial sector, with the latter half of the bigger banks as well as smaller regional names posting their quarterly results. “We’ll have some companies that will disappoint but I think for the most part, earnings are probably going to surprise investors to the upside,” said Nancy Tengler, chief investment officer at Laffer Tengler Investments, in an interview with CNBC. Against this backdrop, CNBC Pro screened for the S & P 500 companies reporting this week that have analysts the most excited, therefore raising their earnings estimates. Here’s the criteria followed for the search: Slated to report earnings this week Average consensus upside is 10% or higher EPS estimates are up up 5% or more over past three months EPS estimates are up 5% or more over past six months Schlumberger has the most upside potential out of the five names on the list, with analysts expecting the energy company to surge nearly 27% in the next 12 months. Earnings per share estimates for Schlumberger are also up 8.8% and 27.1% in the past three and six months, respectively. Morgan Stanley highlighted Schlumberger last week as one of its top plays in the global energy sector. Analyst Daniel Kutz pointed out the company’s growing exposure to the Middle East and North Africa, as well as its position to benefit from decarbonization efforts in the region. After tumbling in the first half of the year, the stock is now up 38% since its May low. The company is slated to report earnings Friday. Also making the cut was Philip Morris , which is scheduled to report earnings on Thursday. Earnings per share estimates for the tobacco company are up 7.5% in the past three months and 19.4% in the past six months. Shares of the tobacco company have shed nearly 7% since the start of the year. Analysts such as Barclays’ Gaurav Jain and Goldman Sachs’ Bonnie Herzog are bullish on the company’s Zyn nicotine pouches and the reintroduction of its iQOS cigarette alternatives to the U.S. market. “We are bullish on PM as it leads the industry in its pivot to a smoke-free future,” Herzog wrote in a September note. “We believe this transformation will make PM a faster growing and more profitable company that should benefit as the global nicotine revenue/volume pool accelerates, based on our analysis.” Las Vegas Sands , Blackstone and American Express also made the list. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
