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The Week's Events
Traders and portfolio managers returning from their holiday vacations will be greeted by earnings and economic news.
Though earnings season will not officially start for another week, there are 46 companies confirmed to report this week. Within this group are S&P 500 members Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBY), Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) and KB Home (NYSE: KBH).
Two key economic reports are on the calendar: minutes from the December Fed meeting (Tuesday afternoon) and December employment numbers (Friday morning).
-- Monday: December auto sales, November construction spending
-- Tuesday: December ISM services index, November factory orders, minutes from the December Fed meeting
-- Wednesday: Weekly crude inventories
-- Thursday: November consumer credit, weekly initial jobless claims
-- Friday: December unemployment rate and nonfarm payrolls, November wholesale inventories
The Federal Reserve's web site is not listing any upcoming speeches from Fed officials.
Volume should improve, but market direction is a questionable. Though I can foresee a pre-inauguration rally occurring, fourth-quarter earnings and economic data will weigh on traders' minds.
Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises
The fiscal second-quarter consensus earnings estimate for Immucor, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLUD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) has risen by a penny over the past 30 days to 21 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is even more bullish at 24 cents per share. The reagent manufacturer has topped expectations for 3 consecutive quarters by an average margin of 4 cents per share. Immucor is scheduled to report on Wednesday, Jan 7, after the close of trading.
Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises
In early December, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) warned that third-quarter same-store sales had declined 5.6%, well below its projection for sales to be unchanged or down by just low single digits. As a result, the company cut its EPS guidance to between 31 and 35 cents per share. Brokerage analysts responded by lowering their quarterly projections to 34 cents per share.
BBBY has missed once during the past 4 quarters. Even if the company matches expectations, there is a real possibility that its fiscal 2009 guidance could be disappointing given the horrible holiday shopping season. Bed Bath & Beyond is scheduled to report on Wednesday, Jan 7, after the close of trading.
During the past 30 days, 4 brokerage analysts have lowered their fiscal second-quarter profit projections on Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN). Though the revisions were not large enough to move the consensus earnings estimate from 57 cents per share, they did result in a more bearish most accurate estimate of 55 cents per share. GPN has missed once in the past 2 quarters. Global Payments is scheduled to report on Tuesday, Jan 6, after the close of trading.
Charles Rotblut, CFA, is the senior market analyst for Zacks.com.
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