Top 9 Earnings Previews for the Rest of the Week (T, MSFT, GE, HON, MCD, VZ, COF, CMG, PM)

We have detailed previews for the following companies: AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T); Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT); Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF); Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG); Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM); General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE); Honeywell International (NYSE: HON); McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD); and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ).

Consensus estimates and the consensus analyst price targets have been compiled from Thomson Reuters.

Thursday, October 20

AT&T is due Thursday morning and Thomson Reuters has estimates for the DJIA component of $0.61 EPS and $31.62 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.58 EPS and $31.72 billion in revenue. Shares are trading around $29.15, its 52-week trading range is $27.20 to $31.94 and analysts have a consensus price target of $32.33. With the current bias being against approval of the T-Mobile operations, we will be looking for guidance on that front. Other than that, investors have close to a 6% dividend yield.

Microsoft is due Thursday afternoon and Thomson Reuters has estimates for the DJIA component of $0.68 EPS and $17.25 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.84 EPS and $21.21 billion in revenue. Shares are trading around $27.15, its 52-week trading range is $23.65 to $29.46 and analysts have a consensus price target of $31.90. The dividend is now close to 3% but investors are still concerned about the PC market causing a slower upgrade cycle for Windows. The only hope is now that Intel offered enough of a PC-market buffer.

Some smaller large company reports to watch on Thursday are as follows:

Capital One Financial shares hit a 5-day low on Wednesday on worries of slower payments on credit cards in September and estimates are $1.68 EPS on $4.05 billion in sales. Keep in mind that it has been making acquisitions and that may alter the future of the company.

Chipotle Mexican Grill has been such a high flying stock that many traders are watching it as “the Apple of fast food.” Estimates are $1.85 EPS and $583.1 million, for the next quarter the estimates are $1.85 EPS and $584.45 million in sales.

Philip Morris International could see wild adjusted earnings due to currency fluctuations being so wild. The entirely non-US smoking giant is expected to report earnings of $1.24 EZPS and $7.57 billion in revenues.

Friday, October 21

General Electric is due Friday morning and Thomson Reuters has estimates for the DJIA component of $0.32 EPS and $34.86 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.40 EPS and $39.54 billion in revenue. Shares are trading around $16.50, its 52-week trading range is $14.02 to $21.65 and analysts have a consensus price target that has slid further to $20.93. Keep in mind that GE shares have recovered about $2.50 per shares as recently as the lows of October 4.

Honeywell International is due Friday morning and Thomson Reuters has estimates of $1.00 EPS and $9.26 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $1.08 EPS and $9.64 billion in revenue. Shares are trading around $49.00, its 52-week trading range is $41.22 to $62.28 and analysts have a consensus price target of $58.61.

McDonald’s is due Friday morning and Thomson Reuters has estimates for the DJIA component of $1.43 EPS and $7.01 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $1.27 EPS and $6.73 billion in revenue. Shares are trading around $89.75, its 52-week trading range is $72.14 to $91.22 and analysts still have a consensus price target of $97.90. We would pay very close attention to Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ARCO) on the news as it is a huge McDonald’s operator in the growing markets of Latin America.

Verizon is set to report earnings on Friday morning and Thomson Reuters has estimates for the DJIA component of $0.57 EPS and $27.91 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.58 EPS and $28.29 billion in revenue. Shares are trading around $37.00, its 52-week trading range is $31.60 to $38.95 and analysts have a consensus price target of $38.43. The issue we would bring up is whether or not the labor strike had any impact at all on operations.

JON C. OGG