Make no mistake: This earnings season, we’ve seen some powerful results so far. Of the 340 or so S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, 67% have topped analyst earnings estimates and 64% have beaten sales estimates.
But I expect the second half to be much choppier than the first. What usually happens with earnings season is that the stronger earnings announcements come out early and the weaker announcements are saved for last. And with a fresh wave of small- and mid-cap companies kicking off this week, I expect the market to become pretty bumpy in a matter of days.
To prepare for this, let’s preview some of the biggest earnings announcements coming at us this week. I’ll provide what the analyst community’s expectations are for each stock plus my take on whether the upcoming earnings announcement is a buying opportunity.
The Good
| Ticker | Company | Earnings Date | Forecast Sales | Forecast Earnings | My Take |
| CAB | Cabela’s Inc. | Thursday | 9% | 14% | Buy |
| CAR | Avis Budget Group Inc. | Wednesday | 0% | 50% | Buy |
| CLWR | Clearwire Corp. | Tuesday | -13% | 73% | Buy |
| CMCSA | Comcast Corp. | Wednesday | 6% | 13% | Strong Buy |
| CPB | Campbell Soup Co. | Friday | 10% | 3% | Buy |
| DF | Dean Foods Inc. | Wednesday | 2% | 11% | Buy |
| DPS | Dr Pepper Snapple Group | Wednesday | 2% | 4% | Buy |
| DTV | Directv | Thursday | 8% | 11% | Buy |
| KO | The Coca-Cola Inc. | Tuesday | 5% | 13% | Buy |
| KORS | Michael Kors Holdings | Tuesday | 45% | 105% | Buy |
| LGF | Lions Gate Entertainment | Monday | 119% | 1700% | Strong Buy |
| MORN | Morningstar Inc. | Wednesday | 1% | 2% | Buy |
| PEP | PepsiCo Inc. | Thursday | 1% | -9% | Buy |
| RAI | Reynolds American Inc. | Tuesday | -1% | 1% | Buy |
| RAX | Rackspace Hosting Inc. | Tuesday | 26% | 22% | Buy |
| SJM | J.M. Smucker Co. | Friday | 6% | 14% | Buy |
| TRI | Thompson Reuters Corp. | Wednesday | 1% | 2% | Buy |
| TRIP | TripAdvisor Inc. | Wednesday | 21% | 17% | Buy |
| VAL | Valspar Corp. | Tuesday | 4% | 8% | Buy |
| WFM | Whole Foods Market Inc. | Wednesday | 14% | 19% | Buy |
The Bad
| Ticker | Company | Earnings Date | Forecast Sales | Forecast Earnings | My Take |
| CSCO | Cisco Systems Inc. | Wednesday | 5% | 2% | Hold |
| DE | Deere & Co. | Wednesday | 10% | 8% | Hold |
| FOSL | Fossil Inc. | Tuesday | 12% | 21% | Hold |
| GM | General Motors Inc. | Thursday | 3% | 31% | Hold |
| GNC | GNC Holdings Inc. | Thursday | 13% | 31% | Hold |
| MDLZ | Mondelez International | Wednesday | -34% | -33% | Hold |
| MHP | McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc. | Tuesday | 6% | 14% | Hold |
| SAVE | Spirit Airlines Inc. | Tuesday | 21% | -24% | Hold |
| SKX | Skechers USA Inc. | Wednesday | 19% | 72% | Hold |
| WM | Waste Management Inc. | Thursday | 1% | 0% | Hold |
| Z | Zillow Inc. | Wednesday | 58% | -100% | Hold |
The Ugly
| Ticker | Company | Earnings Date | Forecast Sales | Forecast Earnings | My Take |
| AMAT | Applied Materials Inc. | Wednesday | -30% | -83% | Sell |
| ANGI | Angie’s List Inc. | Wednesday | 66% | 86% | Sell |
| AVP | Avon Products Inc. | Tuesday | -2% | -31% | Sell |
| BBW | Build-A-Bear Workshop | Thursday | -2% | -9% | Strong Sell |
| BWLD | Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. | Tuesday | 32% | 30% | Sell |
| CGNX | Cognex Corp. | Monday | -5% | -21% | Sell |
| DAVE | Famous Dave’s of America | Wednesday | -1% | -33% | Sell |
| GT | Goodyear Tire & Rubber | Tuesday | -6% | 567% | Sell |
| H | Hyatt Hotels Corp. | Wednesday | 4% | -61% | Sell |
| NTAP | NetApp Inc. | Wednesday | 4% | -3% | Sell |
| NVDA | NVIDIA Corp. | Wednesday | 16% | 26% | Sell |
| OWW | Orbitz Worldwide Inc. | Thursday | 4% | 75% | Sell |
| STRA | Strayer Education Inc. | Thursday | -7% | 37% | Strong Sell |
| WTW | Weigh Watchers | Wednesday | -1% | 1% | Sell |
| WU | Western Union Co. | Tuesday | -2% | -10% | Sell |
| ZIP | Zipcar Inc. | Friday | 11% | -33% | Sell |
In addition to earnings announcements, lately we’ve seen a barrage of new mergers and acquisitions deals that will affect several industry leaders and present new profit opportunities. I’ll have the full details on the latest “buyout buzz” on Wall Street in tomorrow’s daily blog.
Sincerely,
Louis Navellier