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Coke, Lockheed, UTX Beat; Travelers Misses

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Tuesday, July 23, 2019

We’re again light on economic data this morning — only Existing Home Sales comes out after the bell — though we do expect PMI manufacturing and services, Durable Goods, Jobless Claims and the first read on Q2 GDP later in the week. Until then, however, we will have to make do with new Q2 earnings reports, which are plentiful in today’s pre-market.

We just have time for a few reportees this morning, but we’ll start with Coca-Cola (KO - Free Report) , which beat estimates by a penny to 63 cents per share. It’s also incrementally better than the 61 cents per share reported in the year-ago quarter. Coke has surpassed earnings estimates in three of its last four quarters.

Revenues of $10.0 billion outpaced the Zacks consensus by 0.86% on the top line, making four quarters in a row of revenue beats. Coca-Cola also raises full-year forecasts on both top and bottom lines. However, the stock is lagging the S&P 500, year to date: up just 8.2% compared with the S&P’s 19.1%. But shares are up 3.3% at this hour in the pre-market. For more on KO’s earnings, click here.

The world’s largest defense company, Lockheed Martin (LMT - Free Report) also beat and raised this morning in its Q2 report: $5.00 per share topped the expected $4.74; $14.43 billion in sales for the quarter surpassed estimates by 1.9%, and well above the $13.40 billion from a year ago. The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company spoke of record level order not yet filled in the quarter, sparking big hopes for the future. Shares are up nearly 10% in early trading. For more on LMT’s earnings, click here.

Also in the defense/industrial sector, United Technologies put up $2.20 per share versus $2.04 in the Zacks consensus, on revenues of $19.63 billion that measured 0.9% better that estimates. The company also raised full-year guidance on increased demand for aircraft parts. Shares are up 25% year to date, and another 2.4% in the pre-market this morning. For more on UTX’s earnings, click here.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB - Free Report) has not beat earnings estimates in three of the last four quarters, with $1.67 per share outperforming by three cents, although $4.59 billion in sales was a tad light of expectations, and roughly flat with the year-ago quarter. Shares are still up 1.5% in the early market, however, with shares +18% year to date. For more on KMB’s earnings, click here.

The Travelers Companies (TRV - Free Report) , however, came up short on earnings for its Q2 report — $2.02 per share versus $2.27 anticipated. Still, it’s an improvement from the year-ago $1.81 per share, and $7.81 billion in revenues topped expectations on the top line by 0.77%. But this is the first earnings miss since the same quarter a year ago. Shares are down 1.14% in pre-trading. For more on TRV’s earnings, click here.

Mark Vickery
Senior Editor

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