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The earnings season is well past its peak with 385 S&P companies having already reported results till Feb 10. The earnings picture that has emerged so far has hitherto confirmed that the overall results for fourth-quarter 2016 are likely to be the best in about two years.

Total earnings for these 385 companies are up 6.1% on 4.6% higher revenues, with 69% beating earnings estimates and 54.7% surpassing top-line expectations. Based on the hitherto observed pattern, the quarter is anticipated to register high single-digit percentage growth on a year-over-year basis.  

Per the latest Earnings Preview, overall fourth quarter’s earnings for all the S&P 500 companies are expected to be up 7.5% year over year on 3.9% growth in revenues. This represents a healthy improvement from the prior quarter that ended the earnings recession of five consecutive quarters for the benchmark index. The relative improvement in the quarterly performance is largely due to a turnaround in the economy, improved job market scenario and rising oil prices. Experts widely believe that earnings growth is likely to be in double digits in 2017 and beyond.

For the quarter as a whole, about four of the 16 Zacks sectors are expected to witness an earnings decline, with Autos, Conglomerates and Transportation being the biggest drag.

The Business Services sector is looking impressive this time. For the sector, earnings are expected to grow 10.8% year over year, while sales are touted to rise 7.5% driven by higher capital investment in the infrastructure market and improved economic and labor market conditions.

Let’s have a sneak peek at three major Waste Management stocks scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb 16 to see how things are shaping up for the upcoming results.

Republic Services, Inc. RSG is slated to report earnings after the closing bell. The company is currently focusing on increasing its operational efficiency by converting its fleet to compressed natural gas collection vehicles and modifying rear-loading trucks to automated-side loaders, which will reduce costs and improve profitability. The company is also realigning its field support functions by combining two organizational layers, and expects these initiatives to contribute approximately $25 million of annual cost savings from 2018. A stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) or #3 (Hold) for a likely earnings beat. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. For the impending quarter, Republic Services has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and Zacks Rank #2, making a surprise prediction difficult. (Read more: What's in Store for Republic Services in Q4 Earnings?)