EXCERPT:
Speaker 1: There’s a lot to unpack in this market, but just broadly speaking, wondering how you’re viewing the earnings that we’ve gotten so far. Again, we’re very early into this earnings season. We’ve got the banks and we’ve got some of these large companies like Tesla reporting and hitting the tape as well. Any noticeable trends that you’re seeing?
Speaker 2: Well, I think when we take a look at earnings across the board, for the most part, we’re seeing a fair amount of strength. And I think investors coming into this earnings season were concerned about the deceleration and growth, and we’re seeing it, but it’s not nearly as bad as feared.
Right now, we’re going to expect EPS to finish this quarter, up around 9%. And it’s coming from sales growth that’s 13 to 14%. That’s a big number. A part of that margin contraction is coming from financials. So it’s not broad-base. There are certain groups which we’re seeing that margin pressure, but generally speaking, we’re seeing a fair amount of strength across the board. I think banks is one area where we’re seeing a little bit more increase in reserves, and I think investors are looking ahead to see if there is recessionary impulses in that process. But for the most part, we’re feeling comfortable with this coming earnings season.