Trading News
May. 10, 20234 min read

3 patterns to trade earnings winners

Tim BohenAvatar
Written by Tim Bohen

Gaining 35% in a single year is an impressive return for anyone who trades large-cap stocks…

35% gains in a single day is next level! But that’s exactly how much Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: UPST) moved following its latest earnings report. 

And it’s not the only earnings winner we’ve seen this quarter… 

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR), Datadog, Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG), and Carvana Co. (NYSE: CVNA) have been monster earnings winners.

So is it better to trade earnings winners as soon as earnings are announced after hours … Or are there safer, potentially more lucrative ways to play them the following day?

Today I’ll show you the patterns to look for in earnings winners. Plus, I’ll share the pattern I’m watching for tomorrow in one particular earnings winner… 

Three Patterns to Trade Earning Winners

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) had a nice two-day run after earnings — and it could continue higher since it closed above VWAP yesterday… 

But looking back at both of its green days so far they both started off with the same pattern… 

The dip and rip

First, on day one, PLTR had a nasty morning selloff. But then it ripped back almost as quickly as it tanked. And once it broke the premarket highs, that resistance became support

It bounced off that level four times before going higher…

PLTR chart: 1-day, 5-minute candle — courtesy of StocksToTrade.com

Then yesterday it had another dip and rip. 

This time it dipped and bounced off the green to red level. And it broke the premarket high and continued higher. 

PLTR chart: 2-day, 5-minute candle — courtesy of StocksToTrade.com

So that’s one pattern you can look for in earnings winners

The next one is a pattern I like to look for if a stock is up on earnings but then doesn’t do much throughout the day. 

That’s the afternoon VWAP hold high of day break

It’s the pattern I was watching for in UPST yesterday after its massive after-hours spike on Tuesday. 

But it didn’t make the move. It just traded sideways all day… 

UPST chart: 1-day, 5-minute candle — courtesy of StocksToTrade.com

So what’s the third pattern we can look for next?

The day three surge, baby! 

UPST traded in a channel all day yesterday. And as I’ve said before, there are variations of the day three surge pattern… 

One of them fits UPST beautifully… When a stock has a big run after hours, I treat the after-hours action like day one … And yesterday was day two… 

So today we’re looking for UPST to break above the $21.75 highs from Tuesday after hours. 

UPST chart: 2-day, 5-minute candle — courtesy of StocksToTrade.com

We want to see it break out of the channel to the upside. But if it dies, let it die. 

If you’re looking for trade ideas every day of the week, sign up for Matt Monaco’s free text alerts — just register your phone number here

Have a great day everyone. See you back here tomorrow. 

Tim Bohen

Lead Trainer, StocksToTrade