Harding and Company – Q2 Earnings Season Continues This Week

NEW YORK - July 22, 2018 - PRLog -- Harding and Company run through the major players reporting and what is expected.

Netflix last week reported earnings that disappointed and shares of the streaming platform fell sharply, and this week all eyes will be on Google parent company Alphabet (reporting Monday), Facebook (reporting Wednesday), and Amazon (reporting Thursday). All three companies will release their results after the market close.

Outside of the FANGs, there will be plenty of earnings action — 174 S&P 500 members are set to report results this week.

Last week, earnings results, Trump's criticism of the Federal Reserve and continued noise on the trade front all combined to lead the major equity indexes precisely nowhere, though the Nasdaq sits just below a record high after hitting a closing high on Tuesday.

And though another strong quarter for corporate earnings is about to take full flight — data from FactSet indicate that second quarter earnings are on track to rise 20.8% over last year — expect the market discussion to continue to be dominated by trade.

"Trade dominates news headlines and investor discussions," wrote James Williamson, head of US equity strategy at Harding and Company, in a note to clients published Friday.

"Tariffs benefit some domestic industries but pose a risk to S&P 500 earnings through reduced revenues (lower exports) and weaker margins (higher input costs). Our geographic sales baskets price some bilateral trade risk with China, but not a global trade war."

Specifically, Williamson notes that soybean prices indicate market expectations for a 25% tariff on U.S. exports to China next year. The firm points out, however, that S&P 500 companies directly derive just 2% of their sales from China, potentially muting the impact of a trade war between the U.S. and China.

Earnings calendar

• Monday: Alphabet (GOOGL), Hasbro (HAS), Whirlpool (WHR)
• Tuesday: Harley-Davidson (HOG), United Technologies (UTX), Eli Lilly (lly), Biogen (BIIB), Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Texas Instruments (TXN)
• Wednesday: Facebook (FB), Boeing (BA), UPS (UPS), Coca-Cola (KO), PayPal (PYPL), Ford (F), Visa (V), Gilead (GILD), AMD (AMD), Qualcomm (QCOM), General Dynamics (GD), Hilton Worldwide (HLT), Anthem (ANTM)
• Thursday: Amazon (AMZN), Starbucks (SBUX), McDonald's (MCD), MasterCard (MA), Celgene (CELG), Comcast (CMCSA), Under Armour (UAA), American Airlines (AAL), Altria (MO), Discover Financial (DFS), Intel (INTC)
• Friday: Twitter (TWTR), Merck (MRK), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), Phillips 66 (PSX), Moody's (MCO)

Economic calendar

• Monday: Existing home sales, June (+0.2% expected; -0.4% previously)
• Tuesday: FHFA home price index, May (+0.3% expected; +0.1% previously); Markit flash manufacturing PMI, July (55.1 expected; 55.4 previously); Markit flash services PMI, July (56.5 expected; 56.5 previously); Richmond Fed manufacturing index, July (18 expected; 20 previously)
• Wednesday: New home sales, June (-2.9% expected; +6.7% previously)
• Thursday: Initial jobless claims (215,000 expected; 207,000 previously); Wholesale inventories, June (+0.5% expected; +0.6% previously); Durable goods orders, June (+3% expected; -0.4% previously)
• Friday: Second quarter GDP, first estimate (+4.3% annualized growth expected; +2% previously); Personal consumption, second quarter (+3.1% annualized growth expected; +0.9% previously); University of Michigan consumer sentiment, July (97.1 expected; 97.1 previously)

Earning season is always a key time to be paying attention to your portfolio to establish any changes in strategy you may need to make whilst reacting to market news and data. Contact an advisor today at info@handcadvisors.com or visit www.handcadvisors.com to see how you can benefit from an independent advisory service that is 100% committed to your financial security, strategy and wealth management.