Real reporting season surprise isn’t about profits but dividends

The market’s attention is on the earnings recovery during this profit reporting season, but the real surprise may be dividends.

It’s the expected rebound in earnings from the impact of COVID-19 that’s dominating the spotlight and fuelling much of the recent rally in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO).

There’s nothing like a “V-shape” profit recovery to get the blood racing. We have already seen some ASX shares issue profit upgrades.

Profit upgrades are only half the story

Some recent examples are the Amcor CDI (ASX: AMC) share price, BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) share price and ARB Corporation Limited (ASX: ARB) share price.

We can expect more positive earnings surprises and upgrades during this month’s…