86% of S&P 500 companies have reported a positive earnings-per-share surprise for Q3

Data: FactSet; Chart: Axios Visuals

So far, 86% of S&P 500 companies have reported a positive EPS surprise for Q3, on pace for the highest percentage of companies reporting positive EPS surprises since FactSet began tracking the metric in 2008.

The big picture: Earnings for the S&P 500 in Q3 are on pace to decline by 7.5% from Q3 2019. That means S&P earnings are still headed for the third largest year-over-year decline since 2009, but the positive surprises have taken expected earnings up notably from an expected -25.3% on June 30.