S&P 500 Companies Signal Optimism as 74% Beat Estimates
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United Technologies Corp. raised the lower end of its 2014 forecast today and McDonald’s Corp. gave an upbeat outlook for April, showing signs of optimism at U.S. corporations after factory production and the job market improved last month.
Comcast Corp., bucking the industry trend of losing cable-TV subscribers for a second quarter, Yum! Brands Inc. and Gilead Sciences Inc. were among the 74 percent of Standard & Poor’s 500 Index companies that have topped first-quarter analysts’ projections this season so far, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. About 77 percent have yet to report.