Unusual European earnings pessimism leaves room for a nice surprise

* Q1 earnings set to drop year-on-year
* Earnings growth for 2016 already revised away
* February saw biggest downgrades for 7 years
* Top-line growth, cost control could support profits
By Alistair Smout
LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) – Analysts are unusually pessimistic about 2016 earnings as the first-quarter results season gets into gear in Europe, a situation which may actually end up supporting stocks if the global growth outlook is not as bad as feared.
Market turmoil and concerns over