Nvidia's profit is growing fast. But not the fastest in the S&P 500.
Seven S&P 500 companies, including Travelers, Catalent and Progressive, are expected to report at least 140% higher profit per share in the second quarter, says an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSurge.
All of these companies' quarterly profit growth forecasts outstrip Nvidia's at 135%. Forget the fact Nvidia's stock is up roughly 150% this year, blowing away the gains by all seven S&P 500 stocks with huge profit growth forecasts for the second quarter.
Finding Nvidia-Topping Earnings Growth
Rising premiums and more cautious underwriting are turning into a boon for insurers' profits in the second quarter.
Two of the S&P 500 companies expected to post Nvidia-beating profit growth hail from the insurance industry. Travelers is on pace to report a second-quarter profit of $2.96 a share. If it materializes, that would be 4,826% higher than the 6 cents a share the company made in the same year-ago period. Shares are only up 7.1% this year.
And then there's insurer Progressive. The analysts following the stock think the company will make $2.14 a share in the second quarter. That's up 414% from the same year-ago period.
Not Just Insurance With Explosive Growth
Catalent, a Somerset, N.J.-based company making drug treatments, is also primed for a great quarter for profit growth. Analysts think Catalent will earn 56 cents a share in the period, up nearly 519% from the same year-ago period. Catalent, though, isn't as much of an undiscovered gem as others on this list. Its shares are up 25% this year already.
Catalent's profit growth isn't just better than Nvidia's forecast. It's miles ahead of the 8.8% expected second-quarter earnings growth of the entire S&P 500.
And that's the bottom line. Investors won't have to settle for the single-digit earnings growth expected from the S&P 500. Some S&P 500 companies profit can — and will — grow much faster than that.
Profits On Fire
Fastest S&P 500 profit growth estimates for the second quarter
| Company | Ticker | Sector | Second quarter 2024 EPS growth (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travelers | Financials | 4,825.6% | |
| Catalent | Health Care | 518.7% | |
| Progressive | Financials | 413.9% | |
| Tyson Foods | Consumer Staples | 324.7% | |
| Hess | Energy | 296.3% | |
| Estee Lauder | Consumer Staples | 283.0% | |
| Goldman Sachs | Financials | 184.1% | |
| Nvidia | Information Technology | 134.7% |
