As of February 18, we have seen Q4 results from 412 S&P companies or 82.1% of the index’s total membership; the Retail sector is the only one that has the most results awaited at this stage. We are not quite that further along for the small-cap Russell 2000 index, with only 931 companies or 46.7% of the index members reporting Q4 results.

Total earnings for the S&P 500 companies that have reported results are up +6.5% on +1.2% higher revenues, with 69.2% beating EPS estimates and 56.3% coming ahead of top-line expectations. While revenue growth rate is decidedly on the weak side relative to other recent periods, the rest of the Q4 metrics for the S&P 500 companies are about in-line with what we have been seeing in the recent past. What is the different however is the pace and magnitude of negative revisions to the current and following quarters. Earnings estimates for 2015 as a whole have fallen sharply in recent weeks, but the trend is particularly notable for the first half of the year.