Earnings Preview for Oct 14 - 17
The bond market will be closed on Monday in observance of Columbus Day. The NYSE and Nasdaq will be open.
Wednesday could be the big day for the markets. Intel (INTC - Analyst Report) will report on Tuesday afternoon, potentially setting a tone for technology stocks. Before the bell rings on Wednesday morning, there will earnings news from J.P. Morgan (JPM - Analyst Report) and Coca-Cola (KO - Analyst Report), plus producer price inflation and retail sales data. During the trading day, Bernanke will deliver a speech and the Beige Book will be released.
Earnings season will pick up steam with 132 companies confirmed to report. Included in this group will be Dow components INTC, JPM, KO, Citigroup (C - Analyst Report), International Business Machines (IBM - Analyst Report), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Analyst Report), and United Technologies (UTX - Analyst Report).
The week's key economic data will include:
- Wednesday: September PPI, September retail sales, October Empire State Index, August business inventories, weekly crude inventories, Federal Reserve Beige Book
- Thursday: September CPI, weekly initial jobless claims
- Friday: September industrial production and capacity utilization, October Philadelphia Fed survey, September building permits and housing starts, preliminary October University of Michigan consumer confidence
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will present his economic outlook to the Economic Club of New York on Wednesday. Vice Chairman Donald Kohn will discuss the economy on Wednesday evening. Kohn will speak to a Georgetown University group.
Options contracts will expire on Friday, Oct 17.
Once again, the key driver for the markets will be the level of fear. The international markets should be close to a bottom, but bear markets, just like bull markets, can be irrational.
Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises
Delta Airlines (DAL - Snapshot Report) recently reported a 12.8% increase in international traffic for the month of September and said industry-wide capacity reductions are boosting its load factor. Brokerage analysts now expect a profit of 2 cents per share in the third quarter, up from a previously forecast loss. Delta has topped market expectations in 2 out of the last 4 quarters. Delta is scheduled to report earnings on Wednesday, Oct 15, before the start of trading.
Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises
Illinois Tool Works (ITW - Snapshot Report) cut its third-quarter guidance on Tuesday, hurt by a slowdown in North American industrial production in September. The company has not been able to raise prices to compensate for higher raw material costs due to the economic downturn. Analysts have accordingly adjusted their quarterly profit forecast to 87 cents per share, down from 94 cents. The most accurate estimate is more bearish at 85 cents. Illinois Tool Works is scheduled to report quarterly results on Thursday, Oct 16, before the start of trading.
Charles Rotblut, CFA is the senior market analyst for Zacks.com. He can be reached at crotblut@zacks.com.
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Earnings Calendar
Here is a list of companies that we have confirmed will report during the week of Oct 14 - Oct 171.
| Company | Ticker | Zacks Consensus Estimate | Year Ago Actual | Last Qtr Surprise | Report Date | Report Time |
| Fastenal | FAST - Snapshot Report | $0.50 | $0.41 | 2.0% | 10/13/2008 | BTO |
| Kmg Chemicals | KMGB - Snapshot Report | $0.17 | $0.18 | (38.5%) | 10/13/2008 | BTO |
| Adtran Inc | ADTN - Snapshot Report | $0.35 | $0.31 | 13.3% | 10/14/2008 | BTO |
| Altera Corp | ALTR - Analyst Report | $0.30 | $0.20 | 18.5% | 10/14/2008 | AMC |
| Csx Corp | CSX - Snapshot Report | $0.93 | $0.67 | (2.2%) | 10/14/2008 | AMC |
| Dominos Pizza | DPZ - Snapshot Report | $0.21 | $0.17 | (4.4%) | 10/14/2008 | BTO |
| Genentech Inc | DNA | $0.85 | $0.67 | (5.1%) | 10/14/2008 | AMC |
| Grainger W W | GWW - Analyst Report | $1.53 | $1.29 | 1.4% | 10/14/2008 | BTO |
| Great Atl & Pac | GAP - Snapshot Report | ($0.38) | ($0.07) | (17.1%) | 10/14/2008 | BTO |
| Intel Corp | INTC - Analyst Report | $0.34 | $0.32 | 11.5% | 10/14/2008 | AMC |
| Johnson & Johns | JNJ - Analyst Report | $1.12 | $1.06 | 4.4% | 10/14/2008 | BTO |
| Mercantile Bank | MBWM - Snapshot Report | ($0.16) | $0.28 | (158.3%) | 10/14/2008 | DMT |
| Pacific Contl | PCBK - Snapshot Report | $0.27 | $0.29 | (7.4%) | 10/14/2008 | AMC |
| Pepsico Inc | PEP - Analyst Report | $1.09 | $0.99 | 2.9% | 10/14/2008 | BTO |
| Polaris Indus | PII - Snapshot Report | $1.09 | $1.07 | 5.9% | 10/14/2008 | BTO |
| Stanley Furn Co | STLY - Snapshot Report | ($0.06) | $0.16 | (200.0%) | 10/14/2008 | BTO |
| Supervalu Inc | SVU - Snapshot Report | $0.70 | $0.69 | 6.8% | 10/14/2008 | BTO |
| Usana Hlth Sci | USNA - Snapshot Report | $0.60 | $0.70 | 1.6% | 10/14/2008 | AMC |
| Zep Inc | ZEP - Snapshot Report | $0.31 | N/A | 0.0% | 10/14/2008 | N/A |
| Abbott Labs | ABT - Analyst Report | $0.77 | $0.67 | 7.7% | 10/15/2008 | BTO |
| Alliance Finl | ALNC - Snapshot Report | $0.56 | $0.51 | 23.5% | 10/15/2008 | N/A |
| Aptargroup Inc | ATR - Snapshot Report | $0.57 | $0.53 | 1.6% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Astoria Finl Cp | AF - Snapshot Report | $0.41 | $0.39 | 2.8% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Badger Meter | BMI - Analyst Report | $0.46 | $0.41 | 11.6% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Coca Cola Co | KO - Analyst Report | $0.78 | $0.71 | 5.2% | 10/15/2008 | BTO |
| Commerce Bancsh | CBSH - Analyst Report | $0.71 | $0.77 | 10.0% | 10/15/2008 | BTO |
| Crown Hldgs Inc | CCK - Snapshot Report | $0.67 | $0.59 | 10.9% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Datalink Corp | DTLK - Snapshot Report | $0.09 | $0.07 | 33.3% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Delta Air Lines | DAL - Snapshot Report | $0.02 | $0.44 | 600.0% | 10/15/2008 | BTO |
| Diamondrock Hos | DRH - Snapshot Report | $0.33 | $0.35 | (2.3%) | 10/15/2008 | BTO |
| Ebay Inc | EBAY - Analyst Report | $0.36 | $0.38 | 5.6% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Exfo Electro | EXFO - Snapshot Report | $0.04 | $0.08 | 100.0% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Jpmorgan Chase | JPM - Analyst Report | ($0.08) | $0.97 | 21.3% | 10/15/2008 | BTO |
| Kinder Morg Eng | KMP - Analyst Report | $0.59 | $0.32 | 14.3% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Landstar System | LSTR - Snapshot Report | $0.58 | $0.54 | 1.8% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Lecroy Corp | LCRY - Snapshot Report | $0.12 | $0.06 | 0.0% | 10/15/2008 | BTO |
| Lufkin Inds | LUFK - Snapshot Report | $1.58 | $1.26 | 0.7% | 10/15/2008 | BTO |
| Marshall&Ilsley | MI - Snapshot Report | $0.20 | $0.85 | 2.6% | 10/15/2008 | BTO |
| Novellus Sys | NVLS - Snapshot Report | $0.04 | $0.41 | 50.0% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Piper Jaffray | PJC - Snapshot Report | ($0.20) | $0.28 | (166.7%) | 10/15/2008 | BTO |
| Polycom Inc | PLCM - Analyst Report | $0.26 | $0.21 | (11.1%) | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Rli Corp | RLI - Analyst Report | $1.01 | $1.15 | (6.4%) | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Spansion Inc-A | SPSN | ($0.54) | ($0.53) | 21.9% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Spartan Stores | SPTN - Snapshot Report | $0.55 | $0.40 | 6.1% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| St Jude Medical | STJ - Analyst Report | $0.57 | $0.46 | 9.1% | 10/15/2008 | BTO |
| Steel Dynamics | STLD - Snapshot Report | $1.13 | $0.53 | 12.9% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Trueblue Inc | TBI - Snapshot Report | $0.40 | $0.51 | 20.7% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Univl Fst Prods | UFPI - Analyst Report | $0.34 | $0.59 | 7.0% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Valmont Inds | VMI - Analyst Report | $1.12 | $0.99 | 5.2% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Votorantim Cel | VCP | ($0.38) | $0.88 | N/A | 10/15/2008 | N/A |
| Wd 40 Co | WDFC - Snapshot Report | $0.48 | $0.54 | 4.3% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Wells Fargo-New | WFC - Analyst Report | $0.43 | $0.68 | 8.2% | 10/15/2008 | BTO |
| Xilinx Inc | XLNX - Analyst Report | $0.37 | $0.30 | 2.9% | 10/15/2008 | AMC |
| Adv Micro Dev | AMD - Analyst Report | ($0.40) | ($0.49) | (15.4%) | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Aladdin Knowled | ALDN | ($0.17) | $0.30 | 0.0% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Amb Property | AMB - Analyst Report | $0.71 | $0.99 | 0.0% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Amcore Finl Inc | AMFI - Snapshot Report | ($0.09) | $0.08 | (733.3%) | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Amphenol Corp-A | APH - Analyst Report | $0.60 | $0.50 | 5.2% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Bank Of Ny Mell | BK - Snapshot Report | $0.61 | $0.67 | (2.6%) | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Baxter Intl | BAX - Analyst Report | $0.82 | $0.70 | 4.9% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Bb&T Corp | BBT - Analyst Report | $0.67 | $0.81 | (1.4%) | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Briggs & Stratt | BGG - Snapshot Report | ($0.23) | ($0.41) | (193.8%) | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Build-A-Bear Wk | BBW - Snapshot Report | $0.04 | $0.19 | (108.3%) | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Capital One Fin | COF - Analyst Report | $1.01 | $2.12 | (3.8%) | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Cit Group Inc | CIT | $0.18 | $1.35 | 104.6% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Citigroup Inc | C - Analyst Report | ($0.28) | $0.47 | 9.3% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Citizens Bkng | CRBC - Snapshot Report | $0.05 | $0.42 | 77.8% | 10/16/2008 | N/A |
| Contl Airls-B | CAL - Snapshot Report | ($1.43) | $2.25 | 52.8% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Cubist Pharm | CBST - Snapshot Report | $0.33 | $0.32 | 240.0% | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Cypress Semicon | CY - Analyst Report | $0.08 | $0.19 | 325.0% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Cytec Inds Inc | CYT - Snapshot Report | $1.01 | $1.04 | 2.6% | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Danaher Corp | DHR - Analyst Report | $1.13 | $1.00 | 2.8% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Evergreen Solar | ESLR - Analyst Report | ($0.10) | ($0.04) | 80.0% | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Fairchild Semi | FCS - Snapshot Report | $0.23 | $0.27 | 0.0% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Gilead Sciences | GILD - Analyst Report | $0.50 | $0.42 | (4.1%) | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Google Inc-Cl A | GOOG - Analyst Report | $4.13 | $3.38 | (2.0%) | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Harley-Davidson | HOG - Snapshot Report | $0.78 | $1.07 | 28.4% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Healthways Inc | HWAY - Snapshot Report | $0.50 | $0.31 | 7.9% | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Herley Inds Inc | HRLY - Snapshot Report | $0.13 | $0.27 | (6.3%) | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Hershey Co/The | HSY - Analyst Report | $0.65 | $0.68 | 3.6% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Hni Corp | HNI - Snapshot Report | $0.40 | $0.75 | 63.6% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Home Bancshares | HOMB - Snapshot Report | $0.29 | $0.28 | (3.2%) | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Huntington Banc | HBAN - Analyst Report | $0.22 | $0.44 | 16.7% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Icu Medical Inc | ICUI - Snapshot Report | $0.40 | $0.31 | (2.9%) | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Ill Tool Works | ITW - Snapshot Report | $0.87 | $0.89 | 4.1% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Informatica Crp | INFA - Snapshot Report | $0.14 | $0.15 | 16.7% | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Insteel Inds | IIIN - Snapshot Report | $0.71 | $0.28 | 70.2% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Intl Bus Mach | IBM - Analyst Report | $2.00 | $1.68 | 9.4% | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Intuitive Surg | ISRG - Analyst Report | $1.27 | $0.97 | 9.4% | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Knoll Inc | KNL - Snapshot Report | $0.41 | $0.37 | 22.5% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Leggett & Platt | LEG - Snapshot Report | $0.35 | $0.37 | (7.4%) | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Media Genl A | MEG - Snapshot Report | $0.18 | $0.11 | 166.7% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Merrill Lync&Co | MER | ($4.55) | ($2.85) | (125.1%) | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Mission West | MSW - Snapshot Report | $0.14 | $0.14 | (14.3%) | 10/16/2008 | N/A |
| Nokia Cp-Adr A | NOK - Snapshot Report | $0.52 | $0.55 | 0.0% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Nucor Corp | NUE - Analyst Report | $2.18 | $1.29 | 7.8% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Parker Hannifin | PH - Snapshot Report | $1.41 | $1.33 | 3.3% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Pmc-Sierra Inc | PMCS - Analyst Report | $0.09 | $0.00 | 22.2% | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Pnc Finl Svc Cp | PNC - Snapshot Report | $1.11 | $1.37 | 17.1% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Ppg Inds Inc | PPG - Snapshot Report | $1.30 | $1.37 | 5.9% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Reliance Steel | RS - Snapshot Report | $1.99 | $1.22 | 0.9% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Renaissnce Lrng | RLRN - Snapshot Report | $0.09 | $0.05 | 0.0% | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Sherwin William | SHW - Snapshot Report | $1.27 | $1.55 | 4.3% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Simmons First A | SFNC - Snapshot Report | $0.46 | $0.53 | (23.6%) | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Smith (Ao) Corp | AOS - Snapshot Report | $0.56 | $0.69 | 32.0% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Sonic Corp | SONC - Snapshot Report | $0.34 | $0.34 | (9.7%) | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Sonoco Products | SON - Analyst Report | $0.65 | $0.64 | 1.6% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Southn Company | SO - Snapshot Report | $0.98 | $0.99 | 12.5% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Southwest Air | LUV - Snapshot Report | $0.06 | $0.21 | 33.3% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Stryker Corp | SYK - Analyst Report | $0.67 | $0.55 | 2.8% | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Sunpower Corp-A | SPWRA - Snapshot Report | $0.41 | $0.16 | 5.4% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Textron Inc | TXT - Snapshot Report | $0.88 | $0.95 | 9.6% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Torchmark Corp | TMK - Analyst Report | $1.50 | $1.38 | (2.0%) | 10/16/2008 | N/A |
| Ultratech Step | UTEK - Snapshot Report | $0.12 | ($0.04) | 10.0% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Umpqua Hldgs Cp | UMPQ - Snapshot Report | $0.17 | $0.22 | (10.5%) | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Usa Truck Inc | USAK - Snapshot Report | $0.19 | $0.19 | 625.0% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Utd Techs Corp | UTX - Analyst Report | $1.32 | $1.17 | 5.3% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Werner Entrprs | WERN - Analyst Report | $0.26 | $0.30 | 13.6% | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Whitney Hldg | WTNY - Snapshot Report | $0.11 | $0.42 | (16.7%) | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Winnebago | WGO - Snapshot Report | ($0.13) | $0.49 | (1100.0%) | 10/16/2008 | BTO |
| Zions Bancorp | ZION - Analyst Report | $0.62 | $1.22 | 10.13% | 10/16/2008 | AMC |
| Amcol Intl Cp | ACO - Snapshot Report | $0.63 | $0.59 | 11.5% | 10/17/2008 | BTO |
| Aracruz Cel-Adr | ARA - Analyst Report | $0.37 | $1.31 | (25.2%) | 10/17/2008 | N/A |
| Comerica Inc | CMA - Analyst Report | $0.42 | $1.17 | 11.5% | 10/17/2008 | BTO |
| First Hrzn Natl | FHN - Snapshot Report | ($0.14) | $0.14 | (57.1%) | 10/17/2008 | BTO |
| Genuine Parts | GPC - Analyst Report | $0.78 | $0.76 | 2.5% | 10/17/2008 | BTO |
| Honeywell Intl | HON - Analyst Report | $0.96 | $0.81 | 2.1% | 10/17/2008 | BTO |
| Prosperity Bcsh | PRSP - Snapshot Report | $0.50 | $0.54 | 0.0% | 10/17/2008 | BTO |
| Schlumberger Lt | SLB - Analyst Report | $1.27 | $1.09 | 2.7% | 10/17/2008 | BTO |
| Sensient Tech | SXT - Snapshot Report | $0.47 | $0.44 | 8.2% | 10/17/2008 | BTO |
| V F Corp | VFC - Snapshot Report | $2.04 | $1.86 | 3.4% | 10/17/2008 | BTO |
| Wilmington Trst | WL - Analyst Report | $0.47 | $0.67 | (19.0%) | 10/17/2008 | BTO |
BMO = Before The Market Open, AMC = After Market Close
Aditi Samajpati contributed to this article.
1Some of the companies listed in the earnings calendar may not be in the Zacks Rank universe.