Second quarter earnings season is almost over and, it turns out, it wasn’t necessarily as bad as feared. To be sure, inflation and profit margins remain a top concern, with some companies slowing down hiring or even cutting jobs . But bottom line S & P 500 earnings are on track to increase 6.7% in the second quarter, up from the expected 4% at the end of June, according to FactSet. That’s with nearly 90% of the index’s companies reporting results. It’s one thing for companies to have beaten expectations in the quarter just ended. It’s another to have their future earnings prospects actually improve. What follows are those rare companies that actually increased their profitability. To find these names, CNBC Pro looked at companies that reported gross margin increases of at least five percentage points since the second quarter 2021 and also saw analysts increase their 2022 earnings-per-share numbers following the latest earnings. Those EPS growth rates increased by at least five percentage points compared to the growth rate when earnings season began in mid-July. All companies are part of the S & P 500 and already reported earnings this season. Not surprisingly, many energy names made the list thanks to the surge in oil prices. Marathon Petroleum , for instance, saw its earnings-per-share growth rate for 2022 increase by 179% and its gross margin expand by 10.4 percentage points year over year. Lithium miner Albemarle also made the cut, with its EPS growth rate for the year increasing 177% and gross margins rising 7.2 points from a year ago. Hilton and Expedia were both the beneficiary of the rebound in travel demand. Hilton’s 2022 earnings-per-share growth rate expanded 14.5% and its year-over-year gross margins increased 6.9 percentage points. Expedia saw its EPS growth rate rise 9.8% and gross margins increase 8.1 points from last year. Strong steel demand helped boost Nucor . Its EPS growth rate for 2022 increased 16% and gross margins grew by 6.7 percentage points from a year ago. Technology company ON Semiconductor had its EPS growth for the year increase by 7.9%, while its gross margins rose 11.8 points year over year.
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