Earnings season is almost over, with about 97% of S&P 500 companies having reported as of Friday. Many knocked it out of the park, delivering earnings and revenue numbers that were well ahead of expectations. We always look at trends and, as usual, there are companies increasing guidance. Raising guidance is one of our Investing Themes for the second half of 2026. We view management's ability to raise guidance consistently as a catalyst for possible market-beating returns in the quarters ahead. It's even harder for companies to lift guidance during uncertain economic times, as vision is murky. This is true now, as the war in the Middle East drags on. As well, Wall Street has a new chairman of the Federal Reserve, one with a different view about forward-looking guidance (or in this case, a lack thereof). As many companies increased guidance during this earnings cycle, we put out two lists. The first was back on August 3 -- and now we offer up our second list, made up of companies in Argus' fundamental Universe of Coverage. Many of the names in this latest list are in the consumer space, as these companies tend to report at the end of earnings season.

Abercrombie & Fitch is a global mall-based clothing retailer. The company has two brands: Abercrombie, which also includes Abercrombie Kids, and Hollister, which includes the Gilly Hicks brand. The company is based in Ohio and has about 7,000 full-time employees.

With the calendar flipping to September, the nonfarm payrolls report for August is near. Meanwhile, earnings season is winding down, though a few big names are still due to report. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were both up 0.5%, while the Nasdaq gained 1%. Year to date, all three indices are in positive territory, with the DJIA up 11%, the S&P 13%, and the Nasdaq 14%. On the earnings calendar, headliners this week include Palo Alto Networks, Dell, and Medtronic on Tuesday; Broadcom, Snowflake, and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise on Wednesday; Ciena and Lululemon Athletica on Thursday; and Oracle on Friday. Some 97% of S&P 500 companies have reported as of Friday and earnings so far are up about 30% from last quarter (excluding one-time gains from Alphabet and Amazon). Energy and Communication Services are leading the charge, while Healthcare is at the bottom. On the economic calendar, the JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) report is out on Tuesday; the ADP private payrolls report on Wednesday; the U.S. Trade Balance on Thursday; and nonfarm payrolls on Friday. Turning to economic data, gas prices ticked up four cents last week to an average of $4.09 per gallon for regular gas. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Fed GDPNow forecast is for 3Q GDP growth of 4.6%, up from 4.0% last week. The Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast forecast is at 3.4% for August, unchanged from last week. And finally, mortgage rates ticked up one basis point last week, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.66%, according to FreddieMac. The next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) rate decision is on September 16. Odds are at 60% for a rate hike at that meeting, this after inflation data released last week was hotter than expected. Taking a deeper dive into performance so far in 2026, a leading industrialized global stock market index, the ETF EFA, is up 12% year to date, while the leading emerging market ETF (EEM) is up 22%. U.S. growth stocks are up 3% when looking at the IWF ETF, while value stocks (IWD) are up 22%. Crude oil prices continue to be volatile. On Friday, oil closed at $83 per barrel and is up 44% for the year. In other asset classes for the year to date, AGG bonds are down 3%, gold is up 3%, and Bitcoin is down 12%. The U.S. dollar is up 1%, tracking DXY. The VIX Volatility Index was about 14 on Friday, below its historical average of 20. Turning to sector performance, the list from first to worst so far in 2026 is Energy (+39%), Information Technology (+31%), Materials (+17%), Industrials (+15%), Real Estate (+11%), Healthcare (+11%), Consumer Staples (+10%), Financials (+6%), Utilities (+1%), Consumer Discretionary (-3%), and Communication Services (-5%).

Abercrombie & Fitch is a global mall-based clothing retailer. The company has two brands: Abercrombie, which also includes Abercrombie Kids, and Hollister, which includes the Gilly Hicks brand. The company is based in Ohio and has about 7,000 full-time employees.