This is the Most Positive Earnings Season Since 2002 (according to earnings call sentiment)

Better-than-expected results have appeared more frequently than not in this earnings season. LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) Workspace data shows that about 56% of companies have beaten the mean estimate. Such strong performances have been reflected in the earnings conference calls. In the plot below, we compare the average financial sentiment (from the LSEG MarketPsych Transcript Analytics) of all available earnings calls in the quarter until today with that of the same period in previous years. This is looking to be the most positive sentiment earnings season since the start of the data in 2002. Year to date, the FTSE All-World Index is up 8%, which is above average for the same period in previous years, although not abnormally higher.