Yahoo Finance

Big moves from giants such as Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B, Apple AAPL, 3M MMM, and Intel INTC helped lift the market and boost investor confidence on Monday.

But despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding nearly 400 points and the S&P 500 climbing over 1.18%, investors shouldn’t assume that the recent extended sell-off is completely over. This means investors should remain aware of the most recent analyst sentiment, and as always, focus on stocks that are likely to top earnings estimates.

Finding stocks that beat analysts’ expectations is a great and proven way to beat the market. With that in mind, one way for investors to try to make solid returns—especially during somewhat volatile times—is to pick stocks expected to beat earnings estimates.

Luckily, Zacks Premium customers can utilize the Earnings ESP Screener in order to search for stocks that are expected to beat. Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find earnings surprises by focusing on the most recent analyst estimates.

This is done because, generally speaking, when an analyst posts an estimate right before an earnings release, it means that they have fresh information which could potentially be more accurate than what analysts thought about a company two or three months ago.

A positive Earnings ESP paired with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better ranking helps us feel confident about the potential for an earnings beat. In fact, our 10-year backtest has revealed that this methodology has accurately produced a positive surprise 70% of the time.

With all of this said, we are giving our readers a free look at five strong stocks in order to help them identify a handful of companies that seem ready to top earnings estimates this week.

1.      Builders FirstSource, Inc. BLDR

This Texas-based supplier of building products and prefabricated components for residential construction is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and sports a “B” for Value in our Style Scores system. Builders FirstSource’s fourth-quarter sales are projected to jump nearly 10%, while its earnings are expected to climb by 6.25%, based on our current Zacks Consensus Estimates.

On top of that, BLDR’s Earnings ESP of 10.15% signals that earnings estimates have been higher directly ahead of the firm’s Q4 results. Builders FirstSource is set to report its fourth-quarter and full fiscal year earnings on Wednesday, Feb. 28, after the closing bell.

2.      TJX Companies, Inc. TJX

This off-price retail power, which owns TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods, is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and rocks a “B” grade for Value. Our current estimates are calling for TJX’s Q4 sales to climb over 14% to hit $10.82 billion. The retailer’s earnings are expected to come in at $1.28 per share, which would mark a nearly 24% year-over-year jump.