Copy of Hot Earnings Season, Cold Investor Response

Investing.com - Many market watchers thought a strong, first-quarter earnings season would spark a stock market rally.Well, they were half right. According to FactSet, 78% of the 400-plus S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far have exceeded analysts expectations--the highest rate since the company started tracking the data in 2008.In addition, overall earnings are up 24.2%, which is far better than expected.Investors, however, have not rewarded that performance.Companies beating expectations have actually seen their share price fall an average of 0.3% between the two days before the earning release and two days after. The five-year average is a 1.1% increase. Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) is an excellent example. Though the company handily beat estimates, its stock fell 6% the day earnings were released.