Below is a link to download our research note, Reporting Monitor. It breaks down S&P500 earnings reports as they come in, and groups them by Select Sector SPDR. 

Reporting Monitor is published 3-4 times each quarter during the height of earnings season, and replaces the weekly ETF Spotlight newsletter during these times. This is the third note for Q3 2011 reporting season, and covers results from the 322 firms in the S&P500 that have reported so far, combined with expectations for the rest.  

• Earnings results...page 1
• Sales & margins...page 2
• Surprises, composition and valuation metrics...page 3
• Past, present & future earnings...page 4  

  

With nearly 2/3rds of S&P500 firms having reported results, overall index earnings likely grew by $32.3bn, or 16.9% YoY (chart below). That's nearly identical to the results from Q2 this year, although excluding the contribution from Energy (XLE) the "core" growth rate declined, from 13.2% YoY in Q2 to 11.1% YoY in Q3.

 

Sales increased about 9.0% YoY (7.5% excluding Energy), although sales for both Financials (XLF) and Utilities (XLU) grew only slightly. For most sectors margins were up vs. last year, but have declined sequentially in a number of areas, especially Materials (XLB)...page 2.

 

Financials had the biggest positive surprises while Energy was light on the top line. But perhaps the biggest surprise is the lack of any surprises in Technology (XLK)...page 3.