This week marks the first full week of earnings season, and several stocks have been building profit momentum over the past few months, based on analysts’ increased estimates. This week, 35 companies in the S & P 500 and six members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average are due to report. They include the six largest U.S. banks – including JPMorgan , Bank of America and Goldman Sachs – as well as United Airlines and the dominant streaming platform Netflix . CNBC Pro screened the S & P 500 names reporting this week to see where analysts have grown more optimistic, as reflected in higher earnings estimates. Here are the stocks that appeared at the top of the screen, based on the following criteria: EPS estimates up at least 5% in the past 3- and 6 months Scheduled to release results this week Netflix , scheduled to report second-quarter results after the market closes Thursday, has seen analysts raise their earnings estimates by about 13% in the past three months and 18.3% over the past six months. The stock has risen alongside those higher forecasts, soaring 36% in three months and 48% in six. Now Netflix is only 7% below its 52-week high. Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, said on CNBC’s ” Halftime Report ” on Friday that, at current prices, the stock was seeing its largest drawdown since April. “If you end up at a 15% drawdown from the high in this stock, I think you’re a buyer, not a seller,” he said about Netflix’s potential reaction to earnings this week. More than half of the analysts, 34 of 49, covering Netflix give it a strong buy or buy rating, according to LSEG. Only 15 rate Netflix a hold. NFLX 6M mountain NFLX, 6-month Insurer Progressive saw the strongest earnings momentum of any company reporting this week, with analysts lifting their consensus EPS numbers by 24.7% over the past three months and 32.3% in six months. Progressive has underperformed the broader market in the past three months, falling more than 11%, while rising about 4% over the past six. Wall Street is split on Progressive, which has a market capitalization of $144 billion. Twelve of 23 analysts rate it a buy or strong buy, while 11 rate it no higher than neutral. The multi-line insurer is scheduled to release its latest financials before the market opens on Wednesday. Analysts have also grown more confidence in data storage provider Seagate Technology , scheduled to report Thursday. The name has seen a 16.9% increase in the last three months to its earnings estimates and a 15.5% uptick to estimates in the past six. Silicon Valley-based Seagate has soared 110% in the past three months and 66% in the past six, bringing its market value to $31 billion, according to FactSet data.
