I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Earnings work. However, as I’ve also said before, companies do not always meet analysts’ earnings estimates.

Recently, I spoke about what happens to a company’s grade in Portfolio Grader when this happens. Simply put, the company receives a lower grade.

Today, I’d like to take a look at another company that suffered this fate: Ball Corporation (NYSE:BALL).

Ball released its second-quarter earnings last Thursday, August 4. The company reported earnings of ¢0.82 per share, missing analysts’ estimates of ¢0.90 per share and down from ¢0.86 per share a year ago. Revenue, though, did increase to $4.13 billion for the quarter, up nearly 20% year-over-year.

CEO Daniel Fisher said in a forward-looking statement: “While our ability to achieve our long-term diluted earnings per share growth goal of 10% to 15% in 2022 has been impeded by the recent deceleration in volume growth, earnings translation headwinds, ongoing inflation and the pending sale of our Russian business, our earnings, cash flow and EVA trajectories are in very good shape for 2023 and beyond.”

However, since the beginning of 2022, the company’s shares have decreased 24%. And the stock has fallen a total of 9.5% year-over-year.

Ball fell to a D-rating last weekend and, as a result, is now a sell. After taking a close look at the latest data on institutional buying pressure and each company’s fundamental health, I decided to revise my Portfolio Grader recommendations for 116 big blue chips. Chances are that you have at least one of these stocks in your portfolio, so you may want to give this list a skim and act accordingly.

You can check out the first 10 stocks that were downgraded to Sells in the chart above… but if you’d like to view the full list of 116 stocks, as well as their Fundamental Grade and Quantitative Grade, please click here.

Sincerely,

Source: InvestorPlace unless otherwise noted

Louis Navellier