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The Q3 earnings season started with a huge bang. Total earnings for the 41 S&P 500 members that have reported so far are up 40.4% from the same period last year on 13.4% higher revenues, with 85.4% beating EPS estimates and 70.7% beating revenue estimates. The EPS beat percentage is tracking in-line with the 5-year average while the revenue beat percentage is on the weaker side.

Major banks like Citigroup (C - Free Report) , Goldman Sachs (GS - Free Report) and Bank of America (BAC - Free Report) came up with an earnings beat last week. Freight deliverer J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT - Free Report) reported stronger-than-expected profits while Alcoa (A - Free Report) beat earnings expectations and announced a dividend payment and buyback of its stock. The optimism will likely stay as more companies are expected to report encouraging results going forward.

Looking at Q3 as whole, total S&P 500 earnings are expected to be up 27.0% from the same period last year on 14.0% higher revenues. This would follow the 95.0% earnings growth on 25.3% higher revenues in Q2. The earnings outlook seems positive with the overall growth picture steadily improving, as the near-term logistical issues get addressed.

The solid trend has set the stage for the S&P 500 Index to hit new highs as Q3 earnings unfold. As such, we have highlighted several ETFs that directly or indirectly track the S&P 500 Index for investors to capitalize the opportune moment. Any of these could be a compelling choice to play the upcoming earnings given that they each have a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy):

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY - Free Report)

The ETF tracks the S&P 500 and holds 505 stocks in its basket. It is the ultra-popular and most actively traded fund with AUM of $401.4 billion and an average daily volume of around 68 billion. The fund charges 9 bps in annual fees.

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV - Free Report)

With AUM of $298 billion, IVV is a lot smaller than SPY and less liquid, trading in an average daily volume of 4 million. It charges just 3 bps in annual fees, 6 bps less than the State Street product.

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO - Free Report)

This ETF also directly tracks the S&P 500 Index and holds 510 stocks in its basket. It has amassed $255.8 billion in its asset base and charges investors 3 bps in annual fees. The product trades in an average daily volume of 4.5 million shares.

SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF SPLG

This fund also follows the S&P 500 Index and holds 505 stocks in its basket with 0.03% in expense ratio. It has amassed $12.5 billion in its asset base and trades in solid volume of 2.2 million shares a day on average.

Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF (XLG - Free Report)

This fund follows the S&P 500 Top 50 ETF Index, which measures the cap-weighted performance of 50 of the largest companies on the S&P 500 Index, reflecting the performance of the U.S. mega-cap stocks. It has been able to manage assets worth $2.2 billion but trades in a small volume of about 34,000 shares a day on average. Expense ratio comes in at 0.20%.

SPDR S&P 500 Growth ETF (SPYG - Free Report)

This ETF offers exposure to 242 stocks that exhibit the strongest growth characteristics by tracking the S&P 500 Growth Index. It has AUM of $13.7 billion in its asset base and trades in an average daily volume of 2.3 million shares. The fund charges 4 bps in fees per year.

Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (RPG - Free Report)

This ETF also follows the S&P 500 Pure Growth Index, holding 76 stocks in its basket. It has amassed $3.3 billion in its asset base and trades in a moderate average volume of around 102,000 shares a day. The product charges 35 bps in fees a year from investors.

Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF VOOG

This fund tracks the S&P 500 Growth Index, holding 242 stocks in its basket. With AUM of $6.7 billion, it has an expense ratio of 0.10% and trades in an average daily volume of 109,000 shares.

iShares S&P 500 Growth ETF (IVW - Free Report)

With AUM of $36.7 billion, this fund tracks the S&P 500 Growth Index and holds 242 stocks in its basket. It charges 18 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 1.9 million shares.