The August 8, 2014 “US Weekly Kickstart” by Goldman Sachs Portfolio Strategy Research analysts David J Costin, Amanda Sneider, Ben Snider and Elad Pashtan highlights the key takeaways from the 2Q 2014 earnings season.
“S&P 500 earnings results reflect the strengthening macroeconomic backdrop,” says the research note, observing that margins at index companies had finally broken out of a period marked by stagnation.
In fact this quarter was notable because margins rose to an all-time high of 9.1%, driven primarily by the Information Technology and Healthcare sectors.
Revenue, margins and EPS
The analysts estimate that on annualised basis sales...


