Top Earnings Previews For The Week Ahead (AA, NVLS, ADTN, MAR, NG, YUM, CBST, GOOG, JBHT, JPM, C, MAT)

The coming week will be the unofficial start of earnings season, with the major flow of corporate earnings reports seeing the floodgates opening the following week.  We have already identified the 15 Companies That Will Set The Tone For Summer, and a handful of the coming week’s report is on that list.

The top earnings reports due in the coming week are from Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA), Novellus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS), ADTRAN Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN), Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR), Novagold Resources Inc. (NYSE: NG), Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM), Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), J B Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C), and Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT).

We have added color on each of these reports, along with showing trading data, Thomson Reuters estimates, and more.

Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) is due to report Monday and acts as the unofficial kick-off for earnings season.  It was one of those top 15 reports to follow for all of the summer earnings trends.  Estimates are $0.34 EPS and $6.32 billion in revenues; estimates for the next report are $0.34 EPS and $6.33 billion in revenues.  Shares are now trading around $16.17 and the 52-week trading range is $9.92 to $18.47.  With sowing in Japan and China, we will be giving Alcoa more or less “a pass” on the last quarter as long as it is not atrocious.  Mainly, investors need to focus on just how much of a bounce in orders are coming right now.  This has been a takeover-rumor stock as well, but we are not going to try to deal with the reality of that possibility. This one also made our value screen for the metals sector on Friday.

Novellus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS) reports on Monday and it is usually not a sector mover with its $3.2 billion market cap.  Estimates are $0.76 EPS and $352.3 million in revenues; estimates for the next report are $0.87 EPS and $363 million in revenues.  Shares are now trading around $35.89 and the 52-week trading range is $22.88 to $41.82.  Why we care is that it is the first of the equipment makers for circuits and chips to report, and it is frequent that investors try to look for cause and effect in the rest of tech.

ADTRAN Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) reports on Wednesday and will lead off the telecom and communications equipment makers in its report.  Estimates are $0.53 EPS and $179.4 million in revenues; estimates for the next report are $0.55 EPS and $187.2 million in revenues.  Shares are now trading around $41.98 and the 52-week trading range is $27.55 to $47.60.  Just like Novellus, analysts and traders will possibly look for cause and effect in its peers.  Keep in mind, its market cap is a mere $2.7 billion and these companies in the space are now subject to what we call “good hits and bad misses” in earnings.

Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) reports this coming Wednesday and estimates are $0.37 EPS and $3.02 billion in revenues; estimates for the next report are $0.30 EPS and $2.88 billion in revenues.  Shares are now trading around $36.70 and the 52-week trading range is $29.80 to $42.56. With hotel rates running strong, it is hard to not notice that this stock is right in the middle of its 52-week trading range.

Novagold Resources Inc. (NYSE: NG) is due Wednesday and is more Canadian than U.S., but investors will try to use it as a bogey for the gold mining stocks as it is into exploration for gold, zinc, silver and other minerals.  Its market cap is only $2.3 billion.  As a reminder, Novagold was one of our fresh value hunt stocks as it is among the most sold-off gold stocks.  Estimates are in Canada and not widely followed in America.

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) estimates are $0.61 EPS and $2.70 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.84 EPS and $3.03 billion in revenues. Shares are now trading around $55.13 and the 52-week trading range is $38.43 to $57.04.  Yum! is really about China, and many are now using Yum!’s China market comments to try to make determinations about the discretionary spending for China’s consumer spending market.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) estimates are $0.41 EPS and $174.8 million in revenues; estimates for the next report look for a net loss of $0.27 EPS and $180.3 million in revenues.  Shares are now trading around $36.25 and the 52-week trading range is $20.56 to $39.29.  Since Cubist has risen so sharply since its settlement and since some are now considering it a possible merger target again, this will be closely watched on an individual basis even if it does not really act as a drug or biotech sector-mover.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) estimates are $7.86 EPS and $6.54 billion in revenues; estimates for the next report are $8.30 EPS and $6.86 billion in revenues.  Shares are now trading around $532.74 and the 52-week trading range is $447.65 to $642.96.  Google is one of those top companies that will affect all of the summer market, but it will directly influence a sphere of influence over anything tied to internet and advertising.

J B Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) estimates are $0.53 EPS and $1.11 billion in revenues; estimates for the next report are $0.57 EPS and $1.15 billion in revenues.  Shares are now trading around $48.56 and the 52-week trading range is $31.76 to $49.12.  This is the first real shipping and transportation report from the king of truckers.  Shares have not just recently hit a 52-week high, they recently hit an all-time high.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) reports on Thursday, July 14.  The safest of the “too big to fail” banks has estimates of $1.22 EPS and $25.22 billion in revenues; estimates for the next report are $1.19 EPS and $24.65 billion in revenues.  Shares are now trading around $40.65 and the 52-week trading range is $35.55 to $48.54.  We are going to look for continued improvements in credit delinquencies and in charge-offs.  Unfortunately, we are also looking for the slowing of loans to act as a drag.  This will be one of the companies which shape earnings season.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) is more of a sector influence than J.P. Morgan because it is in the same credit boat as so many other bailed-out banks.  It is also one of those top 15 reports to watch as earnings season kicks off.  Citi’s report is due on Friday and its estimates are $0.97 EPS and $19.94 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $1.01 EPS and $19.89 billion in revenues. Shares are now trading around $42.05 and the 52-week trading range is $36.30 to $51.50.  The big look in Citi is going to be in its book values, which were as follows last quarter: stated book value of $58.50 and a tangible book value of $46.90.

Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) is due next Friday, and while not a market-mover it is a sector-mover in toys and spending for the youth.  Its estimates are $0.16 EPS and $1.10 billion in revenues; estimates for the next report are $0.86 EPS and $1.96 billion in revenues.  Shares are now trading around $27.82 and the 52-week trading range is $19.56 to $28.17.

One reminder we would like to make is that these earnings estimates are likely to change marginally ahead of reports.  That will particularly be the case for companies who have competitors reporting first.

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JON C. OGG