Companies’ fourth-quarter earnings weren’t nearly as bad as investors feared. The first quarter isn’t looking bright, though, and that could create a big divide between the market’s haves and have-nots. More than half the companies in the S&P 500 have now reported fourth-quarter results. Earnings per share are on track for an increase of 16.8% versus a year earlier, according to Refinitiv, compared with the 14% analysts were looking for a few weeks ago. Given how many companies are beating estimates, actual...

Source: Wall Street Journal February 11, 2019 12:30 UTC