NEW YORK After a series of much stronger-than-expected results this reporting period, S&P 500 companies look like they will end up with first-quarter earnings essentially unchanged from a year ago.

Based on Refinitiv data Friday that included results from 494 of the S&P 500, earnings now are estimated to have dipped just 0.01% year over year.

That was an improvement from a week ago, when the estimated earnings decline was at 0.1%. At the start of April, analysts had forecast a 5.1% drop in earnings for the quarter.

If the estimate stays at the current level, the first quarter still would technically mark a second straight quarterly fall for U.S. corporate earnings, or an "earnings recession," which last occurred when COVID-19 hit corporate results in 2020.

Among companies that handily beat analysts' earnings expectations when they reported this week was NetApp Inc.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by David Gregorio)