We are still in the early innings of the earnings season, with only ~15% of S&P 500 companies having returned their Q4 2023 earnings scorecards. According to FactSet data, of these companies, 62% have reported earnings above Wall Street estimates, considerably lower than the 5-year average of 77% and the 10-year average of 74%. The (blended) net profit margin for the S&P 500 for Q4 2023 is 10.7%, which is below the previous quarter’s net profit margin (12.2%), below the year-ago net profit margin (11.2%), and below…
