REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S. companies are set for their biggest year-over-year gain in quarterly earnings since the second quarter of 2022 after a high percentage of S&P 500 companies beat Wall Street expectations.
That is well above the 1.6% third-quarter earnings gain estimated by analysts Oct. 1.
LSEG said that 81.3% of the quarterly reports surpassed analysts' earnings expectations, which is the highest beat rate since the second quarter of 2021.
Microsoft (MSFT.O) was among the big-name S&P 500 companies that produced above-expectation results, with its cloud-computing and PC businesses growing as customers anticipate using its artificial-intelligence offerings.
Stocks have risen since the end of the October, and on Friday the S&P 500 hit its highest level intraday since Sept. 20.
Persons:
Lucas Jackson, LSEG, Caroline Valetkevitch, Rod Nickel
Organizations:
New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Microsoft, Treasury, Thomson
Locations:
U.S