Abstract: A branch prediction method and system are provided that accurately predict a branch condition early in an instruction pipeline of a data processing system. By accurately predicting the branch condition, the correct target instruction can be fetched early, thereby avoiding many of the inefficiencies associated with branch mispredictions. To accurately predict if a branch condition is satisfied, one or more pre-calculated status bits are stored along with a digital value that is read by the conditional branch instruction to determine if the branch condition is satisfied. By including such a status bit, the condition of the conditional branch instruction may be immediately determined, without waiting for the instruction to be processed by an arithmetic unit or the like in a subsequent pipeline stage.