Monday kicks off the busiest week of earnings season with 20% of the S & P 500 set to report. Investors are watching quarterly financial results closely to see how companies have been managing high inflation and looking for insight on the likelihood and severity of a coming recession. To date, 143 companies, or 29% of the S & P 500 have reported earnings so far for the fourth quarter, according to Refinitiv. Of those firms, 68% have exceeded expectations and 4% have matched them. Investors are expecting more volatility through at least the first half of the year, and analysts have been expecting companies to lower their earnings estimates as the quarter progresses. Still, there are plenty of stocks with a solid track record of beating earnings forecasts and rising on results. CNBC Pro found a handful of names, using data from Bespoke Investment Group, that both beat per-share earnings estimates at least 70% of the time and also rise 1%, on average, on earnings day. Here are six of the names: Apple is one of the biggest names that turned up and has one of the highest beat rates in the group. Of 85 prior reports, the tech giant has beaten earnings per share forecasts 89% of the time and sales expectations 79% of the time, according to Bespoke. Its stock price gains 1.31% on average on the day it reports earnings. Apple shares slid at the end of 2022 but are up about 13% so far this year. How it performed last quarter has the potential to turn the market one way or other in the week ahead. It will report Wednesday. Meta Platforms , which will report the following day, is close behind Apple’s beat rate, having topped earnings — as well as sales —expectations 86% of the time over its past 42 reports. The company’s shares rise 1.17% on average on earnings day. Meta announced company layoffs in November, which was earlier than other companies , and investors will be looking for more color on how it fared during the quarter. Elsewhere, snack company Mondelez is set to report on Tuesday. It has an earnings beat rate of 83% and a sales beat rate of 56%. Its shares typically increase by 1.3%. Telecoms giant T-Mobile similarly has an earnings beat rate of 80% and could rise about 1.3% on the day of its results. The companies are scheduled to report Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Chip maker Microchip Technology and biotech Regeneron round out the list.
