Earnings season is almost over. Morgan Stanley has some picks to play the end

First-quarter earnings season might be nearing its end, but Morgan Stanley believes there are still stocks worth playing for a post-results boost. Approximately 78% of the S & P 500 — or 394 companies in the index — have reported earnings so far. Of those, nearly 85% have posted earnings that have surprised to the upside, while 78% have posted revenues above Wall Street expectations. But Morgan Stanley sees potential in some stocks that have yet to report. In a Wednesday note, the bank shared a basket of stocks from the MSCI U.S. index that are expected to report earnings between May 7 and June 2, are rated overweight by Morgan Stanley's equity analysts and fall within the top two quintiles of what it calls an Earnings Surprise Composite score. Some stocks from the basket are shown below: Ulta Beauty is expected to report earnings on Monday, June 1. Bank of America upgraded the beauty retailer to a buy rating from neutral on Tuesday. Analyst Lorraine Hutchinson believes Ulta is more attractive after a pullback, especially as the retailer could be poised profit from some recent investments. Shares of Ulta are down 12% on the year and 24% in the past three months. The stock fell after the company told investors in March that it had spent $434 million to renovate and open new stores, improve information technology systems, expand its Wellness by Ulta retail space and expand internationally. …