Nothing better than waking up to a positive earnings surprise and big profits. Nothing worse than waking up to an earnings miss and heavy losses in your portfolio. Well April earnings season is kicking into full gear and there are few things that move a stock faster, up or down, than an earnings announcement. This is especially true now given how the stock market is pressing towards all time highs and above historical valuation norms. Thus, any stocks that hiccup this earnings season will be punished. This will lead to devastating losses for those unfortunate shareholders. However, the owners of stocks with positive surprises will be richly rewarded. So now is the perfect time to align your portfolio to profit in the month ahead. As most of you already know, Zacks Investment Research specializes in the coverage of corporate earnings. And more importantly, how to profit from this information. So, today I'm going to share with you 3 proven strategies to profit from earnings announcements. (Hint: Be sure to read to the end as the 3rd strategy is by far the most profitable. Strategy 1: Four Leading Indicators of Positive Earnings Surprises I figured it's best to get the most obvious strategy out of the way first. The 4 leading indicators I refer to are the 4 factors of the Zacks Rank. Before you skip this section, let me share some information that you may not have known. In the mid-1970s Len Zacks took his mathematical skills to Wall Street where his job was to discover stock picking strategies that would beat the market. He had a simple theory that was the precursor to what became the Zacks Rank. Len focused his research on finding stocks that were more likely to have a positive earnings surprise and jump on the news. The journey led him to what we know as the 4 factors of the Zacks Rank. Each individually increases the odds of owning stocks that will enjoy a positive earnings surprise. However, when you combine them together inside the Zacks Rank, it becomes an almost obscene advantage for investors. MORE . . . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Best Way to Profit from Earnings Season Next week 1,032 companies will report earnings, but only a few are coiled to stun Wall Street and pop in price. What if you could buy the best of these surprise stocks BEFORE their reports are released? Thanks to Zacks' breakthrough research, it's now possible to predict positive earnings "surprises" with an unthinkable 82.88% reliability. Starting today you can get in early on these surprise stocks before other investors have a chance to react and drive up prices. Alert: Access closes at midnight Sunday, April 24. See Surprise Stocks Now >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Strategy 2: Stop the Bleeding This second strategy is so simple, yet so hard for most investors to do. So, I'm going to beat it into your head...for your own good of course ;-) Sell All Companies with a Negative Earnings Surprise! Yes, sell it immediately. Even after it falls at the open. Even if it is for a substantial loss. Why? Better to take a 5-10% loss in the short run than a 20 to 40% loss in the long run. Keep in mind how earnings estimates are created. Both company executives and brokerage analysts are doing their best to create conservative estimates that the company should easily beat. And when they fall short of those watered down estimates then it points to one of two serious problems. • Industry conditions have deteriorated and thus they missed their forecasts. This problem will most likely not correct itself in the near-term, leading to further disappointment. • Company leaders are incompetent. Meaning that they are no good at estimating their own earnings. Or that their strategies for growth are ineffective. Either reason should give you ample cause to abandon the stock now and move on to greener pastures. Strategy 3: Harness Real "Earnings Whispers" Consider the following chain of logic. • Earnings estimates come from brokerage firm stock analysts. • These analysts are highly motivated to create conservative estimates that can easily be beat. Why? If they have a Buy rating on a stock, and the estimates are too high, then the stock is more likely to disappoint. This would send the stock price lower and the performance on their stock ratings would be poor (leading to lower compensation). • The closer to earnings season we get, the more accurate the information the analyst has at their disposal to put into the estimate. Add it all up and there is no good reason for an analyst to create a higher estimate close to the date of the earnings report unless they had a DARN GOOD REASON. Focusing in on those estimates closest to the earnings announcement is where we found the "whisper that becomes a scream"...a clear indication from the analyst community of stocks more likely to beat earnings by a wide margin. And most importantly, rise on that news. Where to Find These Earnings Whisper Stocks? We can't share all the details of our proprietary whisper formula with you, but our system relies on two under-utilized signals coming from the brokerage analyst community. These two whispers are then layered on top of other time-tested elements such as the Zacks Rank and Zacks Industry Rank to find only the best stocks in the best industries to profit from each earnings season. If you would like to receive our precise surprise signals, then I invite you to take a look at one of our most in-demand services, Zacks Surprise Trader. Since perfecting this strategy in June 2014, our predictions of positive earnings surprises have been correct 82.88% of the time. This is the perfect time. Whisper signals from 4 unexpected stocks have grabbed our attention, and we're expecting significant price increases after they report earnings this coming Tuesday and Wednesday. We'll reveal these tickers inside of Surprise Trader shortly after the market opens on Monday morning. Surprise Trader is generally closed to new investors, but if you'd like to put this unfair advantage to work for you, the doors are open until Sunday, April 24 at midnight. Look Inside Zacks Surprise Trader Now >> Wishing you great financial success, Steve Steve Reitmeister has been with Zacks since 1999 and currently serves as the Executive Vice President in charge of Zacks.com and all of its leading products for individual investors. After many long years of research, he is extremely proud to share with you our historic earnings prediction breakthrough, Zacks Surprise Trader. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research