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Buy-Rated Regional Banks Bring the Goods: CBU, ONB & More

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Monday, July 23, 2018

The first big week of Q2 earnings season kicks off this morning, the start of what will eventually bring a full 35% of S&P 500 companies reporting by the end of the week, not counting those on the index already having reported over the past few weeks. Facebook , Boeing (BA - Free Report) and Exxon (XOM - Free Report) are just some of those large-caps putting out numbers this week, with Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) reporting results after the bell today.

Ahead of the market open, we already see a strong helping of companies’ quarterly numbers across a wide spectrum of industries. Big names like Zacks Rank #3 (Hold)-rated Halliburton (HAL - Free Report) and Hasbro (HAS - Free Report) have already reported, as have some Zacks favorites like #2 (Buy)-rated regional banks Community Bank (CBU - Free Report) and Old National Bancorp (ONB - Free Report) .

Oilfield services giant Halliburton disappointed investors this morning, missing bottom-line estimates by a penny to 58 cents per share, even as revenues marginally beat by 0.65% to $6.15 billion. Both top and bottom line results are far superior to the year-ago results of 23 cents per share on $4.96 billion in sales. Shares of Halliburton are down 7.5% year to date, and are currently down another 1.6% following earnings results. For more on HAL’s earnings, click here.

Toy-maker Hasbro, on the other hand, easily outperformed expectations in the quarter, putting up 48 cents per share versus the consensus 29 cents, with revenues of $904.5 million taking out the $833 million analysts were looking for. The liquidation of major toy retailer Toys R Us obviously had a big impact on the company’s business, and Q2 results were down significantly from the year-ago quarter, but today’s quarterly report shows the company “gamely” competing in the face of difficulties. For more on HAS’s earnings, click here.

Northeastern regional bank Community Bank posted a 9.76% positive earnings surprise ahead of the bell this morning, putting up 90 cents per share in the quarter, well aheads of the year-ago quarter’s bottom line of 73 cents per share. However, revenues were down slightly from expectations, to $14.41 million in the quarter, though this quarter marks the fifth straight beat on the bottom line. Shares are up 16.8% year to date. For more on CBU’s earnings, click here.

Another regional bank — this one from Indiana (Midwestern region) — reporting this morning is Old National Bancorp, which outperformed on both top and bottom lines this morning. Earnings of 29 cents per share beat estimates by 3 cents, while $181.25 million in revenues posted a 4.82% positive surprise. This stock is up 10% year to date, and the stock has gained an additional 0.78% at this point in pre-market trading. For more on ONB’s earnings, click here.

Mark Vickery
Senior Editor

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