Wall Street watches a company's quarterly report closely to understand as much as possible about its recent performance and what to expect going forward. Of course, one figure often stands out among the rest: earnings.

Life and the stock market are both about expectations, and rising above what is expected is often rewarded, while falling short can come with negative consequences. Investors might want to try to capture stronger returns by finding positive earnings surprises.

Hunting for 'earnings whispers' or companies poised to beat their quarterly earnings estimates is a somewhat common practice. But that doesn't make it easy. One way that has been proven to work is by using the Zacks Earnings ESP tool.

The Zacks Earnings ESP, Explained

The Zacks Earnings ESP, or Expected Surprise Prediction, aims to find earnings surprises by focusing on the most recent analyst revisions. The basic premise is that if an analyst reevaluates their earnings estimate ahead of an earnings release, it means they likely have new information that could possibly be more accurate.

Now that we understand the basic idea, let's look at how the Expected Surprise Prediction works. The ESP is calculated by comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, with the percentage difference between the two giving us the Zacks ESP figure.

Bringing together a positive earnings ESP alongside a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better has helped stocks report a positive earnings surprise 70% of the time. Furthermore, by using these parameters, investors have seen 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest.

Stocks with a #3 (Hold) ranking, which is most stocks covered at 60%, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. But stocks that fall into the #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy) ranking, or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market. Strong Buy stocks should outperform more than any other rank.

Should You Consider Uber Technologies?

The final step today is to look at a stock that meets our ESP qualifications. Uber Technologies (UBER Quick QuoteUBER - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) one day from its next quarterly earnings release on August 6, 2025, and its Most Accurate Estimate comes in at $0.63 a share.

By taking the percentage difference between the $0.63 Most Accurate Estimate and the $0.62 Zacks Consensus Estimate, Uber Technologies has an Earnings ESP of +2.25%. Investors should also know that UBER is one of a large group of stocks with positive ESPs. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

UBER is one of just a large database of Computer and Technology stocks with positive ESPs. Another solid-looking stock is Roper Technologies (ROP Quick QuoteROP - Free Report) .

Slated to report earnings on October 22, 2025, Roper Technologies holds a #3 (Hold) ranking on the Zacks Rank, and its Most Accurate Estimate is $5.11 a share 78 days from its next quarterly update.

Roper Technologies' Earnings ESP figure currently stands at +0.15% after taking the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.10.

UBER and ROP's positive ESP metrics may signal that a positive earnings surprise for both stocks is on the horizon.

Find Stocks to Buy or Sell Before They're Reported

Use the Zacks Earnings ESP Filter to turn up stocks with the highest probability of positively, or negatively, surprising to buy or sell before they're reported for profitable earnings season trading. Check it out here >>