We do it four times a year, but it never loses its novelty — earnings season is finally upon us. Investors took the S&P 500 on a rocky ride in the third quarter, but the index still eked out a 5% gain. We’re about to see if it was well-earned, as a handful of consumer brands and major banks are set to report before the week is out.
- Delta ($DAL) and Domino’s Pizza ($DPZ) will release their results on Thursday, while JPMorgan Chase ($JPM), Wells Fargo ($WFC), and BlackRock ($BLK) are expected to report on Friday.
- These updates will provide insight into whether the market rally can continue — with FactSet forecasting that Q3 will mark the fifth consecutive quarter of earnings growth for the S&P 500.
Too early to call: FactSet’s predictions come with a caveat — 60 S&P 500 entities have issued negative profit forecasts, compared to 50 with positive guidance. As a result, analysts widely expect financial performance to have cooled in Q3, explaining some of the dramatic trading from recent weeks. Early reports like PepsiCo ($PEP), Nike ($NKE), and Constellation Brands ($STZ) have supported some of this economic angst — with the companies pulling out weak results for investors. We’ll have to see if things start to look up once earnings come in. |
