While Q4 earnings are sagging notably (as we pointed out here - 8% lower than pre-earnings-season expectations [3]), the incessant ratcheting down of the expectations as the season progresses enables an ever-more-desperate sell-side to opine on the eventual 'beat' that evolves from a lower and lower bar. As Morgan Stanley's Adam Parker notes, however, the results have been massively top-heavy as the largest 10 earnings beats have contributed over 90% of the S&P 500 uspide in aggregate earnings. MSFT and JPM alone account for 50% of that beat. But with guidance plunging, Parker sees 2013 consensus estimates of $112 massively out of line with reality.
[4]