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Q2 Earnings Reports Come in Mixed, Futures Down Slightly

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Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Q2 earnings season may have passed the midway point last week, but plenty of important companies are reporting earnings this morning, mostly with good results. Stock market futures are down ahead of the market, but perhaps positive earnings in aggregate can turn the tides today? Let’s check some of the results thus far.

But first, we’ve got the June read on Personal Income and Spending. Income on the headline came in at 0.2%, a touch lower than expectations but true very same as the unrevised May read of 0.2%. Spending was stronger at 0.4%, again the same as the unrevised May figure. The expander core read year over year was 1.6%, also in-line with expectations.

There was also a Paychex IHS Small Business Employment report this morning, which put July small business hiring down 0.12% after a stronger June read. Year to date, small business hiring is up 0.3% and up 0.4% year over year. The strongest market was in new home construction, and the strongest regions were in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) posted a beat of two cents on its bottom line on revenues that also slightly surpassed expectations. Guidance was kept in-line. Pfizer has now beaten the Zacks consensus estimate for earnings in each of the last 5 quarters, with an average beat of roughly 12%. For more on PFE earnings, click here.

Keeping within the Big Pharma space for a moment, Procter & Gamble (PG - Free Report) also beat earnings estimates of 74 cents per share by 5 cents on its fiscal Q4 report this morning.

Mallinckrodt topped estimates on both top and bottom lines, largely on the back of its specialty brands. The mid-cap pharma company also raised guidance in its latest earnings report.

However, CVS Caremark (CVS - Free Report) reported a mixed quarter, and the company lowered guidance for fiscal year 2016.

SodaStream posted a big beat on its bottom line, and shares in the pre-market are up more than 15%. For more on SODA earnings, click here.

Finally, Royal Caribbean (RCL - Free Report) missed analyst expectations on both top and bottom lines. The major cruise line also lowered its earnings per share guidance.

For in-depth consideration of how Q2 earnings season is unfolding, click here for Zacks Director of Research Sheraz Mian’s latest Earnings Preview report.

Mark Vickery
Senior Editor