The beginning of third-quarter earnings reporting season is still a few weeks away, but a record number of companies have already provided revenue guidance that was above expectations, according to Senior Earnings Analyst John Butters at FactSet. FactSet has been tracking guidance since 2006. Overall, 54 companies have issued positive revenue guidance, which is more than double the five-year average of 25, and above the first-quarter 2011 record of 45, Butters said. Over half (30) of the positive revenue guidance comes for the information technology sector, followed by 11 from the consumer discretionary sector and eight from health care, FactSet data shows. Since the end of the second quarter, the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF has climbed 7.0%, the SPDR Consumer Discretionary Select Sector ETF has eased 0.1%, the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has tacked on 3.0% and the S&P 500 has gained 3.3%.
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