Analysts believe that, when Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT) — the Sheraton (plus Westin, Le Meridien, etc.) hotel people — reports before the market opens on Thursday, April 30, shock and disgust will grip shareholders. (Learn 12 Keys to Trading Earnings for Profits.)

A 44-cent earnings last April will have become 3 cents. This head-snapper is — so the argument goes — because we all stopped travelling in January.

Holding to this thesis, only three out of 16 covering analysts rate Starwood a “buy.” We’ve got 11 “holds,” for heaven’s sake.

The level-headed fellows in the options pits are also thumbs-down on HOT. That’s right where they were at the March bottom … when Starwood took off for a double!

A double? Yep, HOT scotched those guessing Guses just six weeks ago, and is back to do it again.

The stock has been a huge performer for the past month, gaining more than 100% off its March low. The rally has pushed the shares well above all daily moving averages.

Technically, nothing stands between today’s open of $19.90 and $24. But that leaves 20% of upside “vacancy” available.

Expect Starwood to knock the leather off those 3-cent projections, prompting a flurry of upgrades and panic buying of the stock.

I suggest you put on a bullish call position in Starwood.

Don’t sit back and let profits slip through your fingers this earnings season. You can get specific recommendations from Chris Johnson, complete with buy and sell instructions, by signing up for Winning Edge today.

Chris Johnson is the co-editor of The Winning Edge trading service designed to help you make options profits around corporate earnings and other market events. For more information about Chris, read his bio here.