With the investors eagerly waiting on third quarter company data, energy and materials exchange traded fund laggards may turn around as the markets anticipate the two sectors to lead this earnings season.
Estimize believes that U.S. earnings growth will continue into Q3 and calculates a current aggregate estimate for the S&P 500 of 9.1%.
Of the ten sectors, energy and materials are expected to lead, with growth projections of 14.6% and 12.7%, respectively.
The Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLE) and the Materials Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLB) have been among the worst sector plays over the third quarter as investors weighed on the potential negative impact of falling oil prices. XLB dipped 3.9% over the past three months while XLE declined 12.1%.
Despite the high expected profit growth in the energy sector, Estimize cautions that revenue for the sector is very low at 0.3%. This is understandable as oil prices have significantly fallen off over the past few months, with Brent crude oil recently dropping below $90 per barrel. [Oil ETFs Offer Cheap Valuations]
In the materials space, earnings growth will be supported by metals & mining and construction materials. [Materials ETFs Supported by Recovering Economy]
On the other hand, defensive sector telecom services and utilities are expected to continue to fall behind this quarter, with growth rates of 4.3% and 3.6%, respectively. The iShares Dow Jones US Telecom ETF (NYSEArca: IYZ) has decreased 3.6% over the past three months while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLU) was up 0.4%.
Of the 21 companies that have reported earnings as of Oct. 7, 62% have beat Wall Street estimates, 29% have missed and 9% have met expectations. For revenues, 62% have beat Wall Street estimates while 38% missed.
For more information on market sectors, visit our sector ETFs category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.