Are Eurozone earnings expectations really too high? in World Economy News 21/04/2026 The headline 2026 earnings growth projection for Eurozone companies sits at 18% year-on-year, a figure that has drawn widespread skepticism. But a closer look at the underlying data suggests the aggregate number is largely a statistical mirage driven by one sector. The weighted consensus projection, sourced from IBES, masks a far more modest median EPS growth forecast of 8% for MSCI Eurozone constituents in 2026, a gap that J.P. Morgan’s equity strategy team attributes almost entirely to base effects in the Consumer Discretionary sector, which carries a 235.2% projected 2026 EPS growth figure. “The +18% consensus 2026 EPS growth projection for Eurozone is seen to be way too high. That might be the case at face value, but it is fully explained by base effects in Discretionary sector. The median ’26 EPS growth forecast for Eurozone is a very reasonable +8%, which can allow for upside surprises,” J.P. Morgan said. Excluding the consumer discretionary sector, IBES data show projected 2026 earnings growth of 8.7% for industrials, 9.2% for financials, 17.1% for information technology, 6.3% for healthcare and 4.1% for consumer staples. Energy is expected to lead with growth of 31.1%, though J.P. Morgan said the sector’s earnings are forecast to contract by 3.1% in 2027. Revisions since January 2026 have generally trended higher across key Eurozone sectors, according to IBES data. Energy recorded the largest upward revision at 29.5%, followed by semiconductors at 11.4% and retailing at 3.9%. Banks were revised up by 1.6%, while the MSCI Eurozone index rose 1.2% over the same period. On the downside, automobiles saw the steepest downgrade at 10.8%, followed by hotels, restaurants and leisure at 9.2% and diversified financials at 7.3%. For the first quarter of 2026, MSCI Eurozone earnings per share growth is expected to rise 3% year-on-year on both an aggregate and median basis, according to Datastream and J.P. Morgan. Sales growth for the quarter is projected to be flat year-on-year. Cyclical sectors are expected to account for the bulk of full-year earnings growth, contributing 10.6 percentage points of the 17.9% total forecast for 2026. Financials are seen adding 3.4 percentage points, with energy contributing 1.8 percentage points, IBES data showed. On valuations, MSCI Europe is trading at a 2026 forward price-to-earnings ratio of 15.9 times, compared with 22.4 times for the S&P 500. Dividend yield stands at 3.1% versus 1.3% for U.S. equities, according to IBES and Datastream data as of April 15. The MSCI EMU index is trading at a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 14.9 times. J.P. Morgan has set a December 2026 target of 385 for MSCI Eurozone, compared with a mid-April level of 366, implying potential upside of about 5%. Source: Investing.com 2026-04-21 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, docum