CHICAGO, May 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week's list includes Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH), Disney (NYSE: DIS), Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN). To see more earnings analysis, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=3207.
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1Q Earnings Begin to Wind Down
Going strictly by the earnings and economic calendars, I would expect this to be a fairly quiet week. First quarter earnings season is winding down, with about 84% of the S&P 500 constituents already out with their results.
On the economic front, Thursday's Jobless Claims will likely be the most significant. The other major releases this week -- Trade Deficit and wholesale inflation (PPI) -- are just a tad below the yawn-inducing threshold.
It may be quiet this side of the Atlantic, but Europe will likely be in the news. We will know the results of the weekend presidential election in which the socialist Francois Hollande is favored to unseat the incumbent conservative Nikolas Sarkozy. Mr. Sarkozy shared the intellectual policy prescription of Germany's Angela Merkel for the region's fiscal issues to the extent that the two would at times be known as 'Merkozy.' Given the different intellectual orientation of Mr. Hollande, the markets will likely perceive his victory as the start of a relatively rocky phase in Eurozone leadership.
The bulk of the first quarter earnings season is over, but a lot companies have still come out with results. As of Friday May 4th, we have results from a total of 422 S&P 500 companies, or a little over 84% of the total. We will get results from 655 companies this week, including an additional 32 S&P 500 companies.
Overall, first quarter earnings season has turned out to be much stronger relative to pre-season expectations. For the 84% of the companies that have already reported, total earnings growth is tracking 6.5%, with roughly 67% coming out with positive earnings surprises. Most of the growth is coming through revenue gains, with aggregate margins essentially flat from the year-earlier level. This is a far cry from pre-season expectations when aggregate earnings were expected to be down modestly from the year-earlier period.
That said, the aggregate growth rate looks a lot less impressive once
Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) results are excluded. Stripping out Apple, the year-over-year growth rate for the other 421 companies drops from 6.5% to 3.8%. Keep in mind, however, that even this ex-Apple growth rate significantly better than pre-season expectations of a roughly 2% decline.
Monday - 5/7
- There is nothing significant on the economic calendar, but the markets will likely react to the weekend presidential election in France where the incumbent is struggling to hold on to his job.
- Of the earnings releases on Monday, Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) reports before markets open.
Tuesday - 5/8
- There is nothing material on the economic docket today.
- On the earnings front, Disney (NYSE: DIS) will be releasing results after the close.
Wednesday - 5/9
- Nothing material on the economic calendar today.
- On the earnings front, we will see earnings from Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) after the closing bell.
Thursday - 5/10
- We will get another look at the labor market through the weekly Jobless Claims data in the morning. We will also get the March Trade Deficit numbers before the markets open.
- The weaker-than-expected April non-farm payroll report has put the spotlight on the U.S. labor market. It will be interesting to see if the weekly initial claims data, which fell sharply last week, will sustain that trend this week.
- Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) will report after the close.
Sheraz Mian is the Director of Research for Zacks.com.
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