S&P 500 Seen Escaping From Latest Earnings Hole Dug by Analysts

Companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may overcome a bigger projected drop in earnings for the second quarter than they surmounted in the first, according to Tobias Levkovich, Citigroup Inc.’s chief U.S. equity strategist.

“Expectations have been lowered” enough that companies have the room to exceed estimates, Levkovich wrote in a July 2 report. He sees S&P 500 profit climbing 2 percent, rather than slumping as company-specific predictions would indicate.