Beating analysts' estimates isn't always good enough. What that means

Companies are trouncing expectations this earnings season, but that doesn't seem to be good enough. The S & P 500 is on track for earnings growth of 9% in the second quarter versus the same period a year ago, more than double the 4% at the end of June, according to a Friday report from Goldman Sachs. Even so, the response has been middling, at best. Goldman Sachs found that the median stock whose earnings topped expectations has only outperformed the S & P 500 by 0.55 percentage points, below the historical median of 1.01 percentage points. Meanwhile, earnings disappointments have been punished more severely than in the past. The investment bank found that companies that missed earnings expectations underperformed by roughly twice the historical precedent. Shares of Amazon , for example, d