Stocks we love: 5 big earners

Second-quarter earnings are likely to be ugly. But here are five stocks we think will shine this quarter and for the long haul.

With the second quarter drawing to a close, a wave of earnings reports will again soon be upon us. And with the U.S. economy reeling from an economic slowdown, the results are expected to be nasty.

According to Thomson / First Call, corporate earnings are forecast to fall 9% year-over year for the quarter. Though that's better than the 17.5% drop in the first quarter, estimates for the current quarter have continually been revised downwards by analysts.

That doesn't mean there aren't some gems still out there, however. We screened for companies in the S&P 500 that produced better-than-expected earnings in the previous quarter and are forecast to produce at least 10% earnings and sales growth for the current quarter and full year.

We also looked for companies whose earnings estimates for the current quarter and full year have not been cut by analysts in the past month and a half.

That eliminated a whopping 92% of the companies in the S&P 500. But of the 37 that made it through our screen, we found five stocks that we think have weathered the storm.


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