• With 39 S&P 500 companies having reported Q3 results so far, the average upside earnings surprise is over 9%, strong relative to recent averages of 4-6%.
• Overall, S&P 500 earnings are tracking to a 1-2% year-over-year (YoY) increase, up about one percentage point over the past two weeks. S&P 500 earnings growth is tracking to a 6% YoY increase excluding energy.
• Financials have had the most reports (11), with an average upside surprise of 14%, a 91% beat rate, and is tracking to a mid-teens Q3 earnings gain.
• Themes from the banks that have reported include better-than-expected net interest margins, manageable, though normalizing, credit costs, and mostly soft (as expected) capital markets activity with generally better results within fixed income.
• Restaurants, hotels, leisure, and homebuilders on the discretionary side have generated the biggest upside surprises among the 15 consumer companies that have reported, while beverages and food products on the staples side have generated minimal upside. 

_{* Data as of 10/16/2023}