From Alcoa to Wells Fargo: Prepare for Q4 Earnings Season

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Earnings season is upon us and you can bet that it is going to spur some big swings in the market. While the Fed was Wall Street’s obsession in 2013, I expect corporate profits to take center stage in 2014.

After a five-quarter earnings drought for the S&P 500, growth finally materialized in the third quarter, and earnings are expected to significantly improve from the fourth quarter and then again in every single quarter in 2014. With the U.S. dollar near a one-year low against a broad basket of 15 major currencies, many multinational companies are benefitting from a “currency tailwind.”

So I expect the fourth-quarter earnings season to be even more eventful than the last. To prepare for this, let’s preview some of the biggest earnings announcements coming at us over the next few trading days. 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 Name Earnings Date Estimated Sales Growth Estimated Earnings Growth Recommendation
AXP American Express 16-Jan 5.0% 14.7% Buy
BBBY Bed Bath & Beyond 8-Jan 6.8% 11.7% Buy
SCHW Charles Schwab 13-Jan 14.4% 40.0% Buy
SVU SUPERVALU 9-Jan -48.8% 333.3% Buy
UNH UnitedHealth Group 16-Jan 12.4% 1.3% Buy
WEN Wendy’s 13-Jan -2.7% -33.3% Buy
WFC Wells Fargo 14-Jan -5.9% 6.5% Buy

The Bad

Ticker Company Name Earnings Date Estimated Sales Growth Estimated Earnings Growth Recommendation
BAC Bank of America 15-Jan -1.7% 800.0% Hold
BK Bank of New York Melon 17-Jan 2.3% 3.8% Hold
COF Capital One Financial 16-Jan -2.8% 9.2% Hold
CSX CSX 15-Jan 1.7% -2.3% Hold
FDO Family Dollar Stores 9-Jan 3.4% 0.0% Hold
GE General Electric 17-Jan 2.3% 20.5% Hold
GS Goldman Sachs Group 16-Jan -17.4% -26.1% Hold
INTC Intel 16-Jan 1.8% 8.3% Hold
JPM JPMorgan 14-Jan -2.2% -4.3% Hold
MON Monsanto 8-Jan 4.5% 3.2% Hold
MS Morgan Stanley 17-Jan 7.5% 4.4% Hold
TXI Texas Industries 8-Jan 31.9% 33.3% Hold

The Ugly

Ticker Company Name Earnings Date Estimated Sales Growth Estimated Earnings Growth Recommendation
AA Aloca 9-Jan -8.5% 0.0% Sell
C Citigroup 16-Jan -1.1% 49.3% Sell
FAST Fastenal 13-Jan 8.4% 6.1% Strong Sell
KMI Kinder Morgan 15-Jan 23.8% 2.9% Sell
RT Ruby Tuesday 8-Jan -11.1% -300.0% Strong Sell
STI SunTrust Banks 17-Jan -11.2% 6.2% Sell

Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2014/01/earnings-season-aa-wfc-c-axp-bbby/.

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