Zacks Earnings Preview: Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson, Goldman Sachs, Intel and Yahoo!

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 16, 2012 – Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week’s list includes Citigroup ( ( C - Analyst Report ) ), Johnson & Johnson ( ( JNJ - Analyst Report ) ), Goldman Sachs ( ( GS - Analyst Report ) ), Intel ( ( INTC - Analyst Report ) ) and Yahoo! ( ( YHOO - Analyst Report ) ).

To see more earnings analysis, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=3207.

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Earnings Season Gets into High Gear

The second quarter earnings season gets into high gear this week as earnings reports from 280 companies come out, including 90 S&P 500 companies. By the end of the week, we will have reports from 122 S&P 500 companies, or almost a quarter of the index’s total membership, giving us a good enough sample size to judge the quality of the second quarter earnings season.

The 32 S&P 500 companies that have already reported, and the many others that have pre-announced, have set a downbeat tone for this earnings season. Total earnings for these companies are flat from the same period last year (up only 0.1%), while these same companies had much more respectable 4.9% growth in the first quarter. Only 53% of the companies have beat expectations that were steadily coming down anyway, with a median surprise of a very weak 1.1%. The median surprise for these same companies was 3.6% in the first quarter.

For a detailed look on aggregate earnings, please read our weekly Earnings Trends write-up.

The economic calendar is also on the busy side this week, with a host of housing, inflation and manufacturing reports on the docket. Bernanke’s testimony Tuesday and Wednesday morning will also be significant, as the market will be trying to handicap his stance on the need for more monetary stimulus given recent weak economic readings.

Monday - 7/16

• We get the June Retail Sales numbers in the morning, with the ‘headline’ gains expected at 0.2% after May’s drop of the same magnitude. We also see the July Empire State regional manufacturing survey come out in the morning.
• Citigroup ( ( C - Analyst Report ) ) will report in the morning, with the current Zacks Consensus EPS of 88 cents down from $1.04 60 days back.

Tuesday - 7/17

• We have Bernanke’s testimony before Congress in the morning.
• We will get the June CPI number come out in the morning, with the ‘headline’ number expected to be ‘unchanged’ and the ‘core’ reading up 0.2%. We will also get the June Industrial Production and the July Home Builders’ Index out after the market opens.
• It’s a busy earnings day, with reports in the morning from Johnson & Johnson ( ( JNJ - Analyst Report ) ) and Goldman Sachs ( ( GS - Analyst Report ) ), while Intel ( ( INTC - Analyst Report ) ) and Yahoo! ( ( YHOO - Analyst Report ) ) report after the close.

Sheraz Mian is the Director of Research for Zacks.com.

About the Zacks Rank

Since 1988, the Zacks Rank has proven that "Earnings estimate revisions are the most powerful force impacting stock prices." Since inception in 1988, #1 Rank Stocks have generated an average annual return of +28%. During the 2000-2002 bear market, Zacks #1 Rank stocks gained +43.8%, while the S&P 500 tumbled -37.6%. Also note that the Zacks Rank system has just as many Strong Sell recommendations (Rank #5) as Strong Buy recommendations (Rank #1). Since 1988, Zacks Rank #5 stocks have significantly underperformed the S&P 500 (+3% versus +10%). Thus, the Zacks Rank system allows investors to truly manage portfolio trading effectively.

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Contact: Sheraz Mian
Company: Zacks.com
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