Less than three months ago, on September 30, 2014, “consensus” expected that EPS and revenue growth in 2015 would be 11.8% and 4.3%, respectively. As of December 19, those projected growth rates have plunged to 7.9% and 2.8%. In other words, both revenue and EPS growth has been slashed by one third in under one quarter (while revenue growth for Q1 and Q2 2015 has cratered from 4.5% and 3.6% to 1.4% and 1.0%, respectively). Why? Spotting the “odd one out” in the charts below should provide the answer:

EPS:

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Revenue:

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And that's before the majors have even provided their own substantial guide downs. Bottom line: S&P revenue and (non-GAAP) EPS are going even lower in 2015 until the new equlibrium in energy is uncovered, which considering all the record dumping that is about to take place, means it will take a long time before one has a grasp on where sales and EPS in 2015 will stabilize.

And here is Factset with its own take on the “consensus” facts: