Welcome to the first What My System Says Today earnings Friday edition of 2026!
It comes at a perfect time as fourth-quarter and full-year reporting starts next week with the financial sector.
Today, I’ll start with a look ahead to 2026 and where analysts project the most significant growth in earnings and revenue will come from.
Then, I’ll analyze our screener on “bullish” and “bearish” earnings potentials for next week.
So, let’s dive right in…
New Year… New Earnings Projections
In 2025, the S&P 500 achieved its second straight year of earnings growth.
So, it makes sense that a third year is not entirely out of the picture.
For 2026, analysts are projecting 15% year-over-year growth in earnings per share and a 7.2% increase in revenue.
The 15% growth in earnings exceeds the trailing 10-year average for annual earnings growth (8.6%), and if the number holds, it will mark the sixth consecutive year of earnings growth and the third year of double-digit growth in a row.
It’s the different breakdowns of this data that make it more interesting.
First, we can break down these estimates by market sector.
We see that the information technology sector is projected to grow earnings by 28.6% and sales by 17.4% — both of which are the highest among the 11 sectors of the S&P 500.
While the materials sector is estimated to have the second-highest year-over-year growth (+22%), its sales projections are the second-lowest of all sectors.
The distinction of having the lowest projected EPS growth for 2026 goes to the real estate sector (+5.2%). However, it’s important to note that real estate has the fifth-highest projected sales increase at 7%.
Another interesting point to note is that analysts project that only two of the top five contributors to earnings growth in 2026 are “Magnificent 7” companies.
Only Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Meta Platforms (META) are expected to contribute to the earnings growth of the benchmark. The average earnings growth estimated for Mag 7 companies is 22.7%, whereas the remaining 493 companies are projected to grow earnings by 12.5% in 2026.
Now, let’s switch focus and look at potentially “bullish” earnings calls for next week…
“Bullish” Earnings to Watch
These stocks are expected to beat their previous quarter’s earnings per share (EPS), and thus, if those expectations are met or exceeded, they could potentially trade higher.
For this screen, stocks must meet four criteria:
- 10 or more analysts cover the stock.
- The average analyst recommendation is a “Buy.”
- It BEAT analysts’ EPS estimates for the previous quarter.
- The average analyst estimate for the current quarter’s EPS is greater than the previous one.
Here are five companies that made this week’s list:
The financial sector kicks off the next earnings season next week.
If you recall, it was financials that started a run of strong earnings in the third quarter of 2025. A significant portion of that growth is attributed to big banks expanding their business on their trading desks.
More trading volume means higher commissions for big banks and greater profits.
This is why seeing BlackRock Inc. (BLK) on the list of “bullish” earnings next week isn’t really a surprise.
BlackRock is a multinational investment company and is the world’s largest asset manager with $12.5 trillion in assets under management as of 2025.
It stands to reason that trading volumes continued to reach highs in the latter part of 2025, indicating that an investment company like BlackRock should see growth in its earnings.
I see BlackRock beating analysts’ expectations here and helping its “Bearish” rating on Adam’s Green Zone Power Ratings system.
Now, let’s look at potentially “bearish” earnings for next week…
“Bearish” Earnings to Watch
For our “bearish” earnings screen, we’re only looking for two things:
- 10 or more analysts must cover the stock.
- The average analyst estimate for the current quarter’s EPS is less than the previous quarter’s.
We want companies that are covered by a sufficiently large group of Wall Street analysts who collectively expect the company to report a quarter-over-quarter decline in earnings.
Here are eight companies that passed this screen:
It makes sense to apply the same logic we did to BlackRock to other large financial institutions.
That’s why it is a little surprising to see the likes of The Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), Citigroup Inc. (C), Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) on the list of companies with “bearish” earnings potentials.
If trading desk revenue increased for a company like BlackRock, it’s easy to suggest it did for other massive investment banks.
However, it is essential to note that not all bank-based trading desks are the same.
That said, I believe most of the banks on this “bearish” list will actually beat expectations and come in higher for both earnings and sales.
That should help any of these stocks rated “Bullish” or “Neutral” on Adam’s system.
It should be another interesting week for earnings.
That’s all from me today.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Until next week…
Safe trading,
Matt Clark, CMSA®
Chief Research Analyst, Money & Markets