Of the 107 European companies that reported earnings up to Monday's close, 60 beat sales estimates, while 18 missed, Barclays said in a note on Wednesday. Some 25 firms beat estimates on earnings per share (EPS), while 16 missed.  Read MoreVolkswagen profit jumps 17% on European recovery  "The median sales and earnings surprise is a strong 1.4 percent and 2.8 percent respectively," Barclays said.  Aided by a 20 percent fall in the euro's value against the dollar in the past year, a 40 percent slide in oil prices since last June and a one trillion euro ($1.10 trillion) stimulus package from the European Central Bank, European equity markets have had a stellar start to 2015.  The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 index has soared almost 19 percent so far this year, outpacing a 2.7 percent gain in the S&P 500 index of U.S. stocks, and a 15 percent rally in Japan's blue-chip Nikkei.  Analysts had said that in order for European stocks to maintain their momentum, positive news on the earnings front was necessary. This is something that is now starting to materialize.  "We find that the average company that has reported this season has had upgrades to both full-year sales and EPS estimates since the day of announcement," Barclays said. "The long-awaited recovery in earnings seems to be coming through."  Speaking to CNBC Europe's Closing Bell on Monday, Christopher Mahon, director of asset allocation research at Barings, added: "In the equity world, you're still getting dividend yields of 4 percent here in the U.K. and I think that will be increasingly valuable to investors as they scurry around looking for income."  The positive tone to European company earnings compares with some disappointing news from across the Atlantic. Micro-blogging website Twitter, for instance, on Tuesday saw its shares tumble 18 percent after first-quarter sales fell short of estimates.  Ford Motor on Tuesday, meanwhile, posted quarterly earnings and revenue that fell short of analyst expectations, while tech giant Google's quarterly earnings, reported last week, also missed analyst expectations.  Read MoreGoogle earnings and revenue fall short of expectations
Europe's earnings season has so far churned out generally upbeat results -- something that could help regional stocks continue to outpace their peers.