Even after a busy week capped by a Ravens Super Bowl win, earnings season continues to kick into full gear. Investors will receive earnings from major players like Visa (V), Sprint (S), Coca-Cola (KO), Humana (HUM) Baidu (BIDU) Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Noble Energy (NBL), Activision-Blizzard (ATVI), AOL (AOL), Zynga (ZNGA), Kellogg (K), Akamai Tech (AKAM) and Expedia (EXPE). Not to mention many other companies we failed to list.
Monday is none too exciting other than receiving earnings from the Chinese website giant, Baidu.
Zynga (ZNGA) will report earnings on Tuesday. The social gaming company has struggled ever since they went public. ZNGA peaked at $15 following the IPO, but ever since shares have collapsed. On Friday, Zynga closed at $2.66 so you can see just how far shares have fallen. Of the 23 analysts currently covering Zynga, 78% have a HOLD rating on the stock. Some say ZNGA is a volatile risky bet that could pay off with enormous returns however we are skeptical and would remain cautious and avoid the stock altogether.
Wednesday’s big earnings come from Visa (V). Visa is up 10% over the past three months and shares closed at $158.56 on Friday. Analyst are high on Visa as 71% of the thirty-four analysts covering the stock hold a BUY Rating or higher. 45% of those analysts rate Visa as a STRONG BUY. As the U.S. debit market continues to strengthen along with overall global growth Visa shares should stabilize. We like Visa here; they are a strong company and a solid stock so expect them to report another strong quarter.
Thursday investors will see an earnings report from Coca-Cola (KO). KO has failed to capitalize on the market’s recent rally as shares up less than 1% over the course of the past three months. Analysts are moderately Bullish about KO, with 62% of 18 analysts holding a BUY rating or higher and 33% of analysts rating Coca-Cola as a HOLD. The most famous investor, Warren Buffet is a huge supporter of KO and thinks it’s a great buy. If you’re one of those investors who follows Buffet’s investment strategy then buy it here. We think KO is a solid company overall and expect them to do just fine going forward. Thursday will also be a key day for the international markets The European Central Bank and the Bank of England will release their interest rate decisions.
Friday the big focus is on U.S. economic data, as we will be given with the new unemployment rate. It’s a busy week overall, hope everyone’s ready for the ride!
Monday Reports
- Australian Interest Rate Decision (Expected 3%)
- Earnings from: Humana (HUM), Life Tech (LIFE), Baidu (BIDU)
- Euro zone Retail Sales (Expected -0.5%), U.S. ISM Non-manufacturing (Expected 55.1)
- Earnings from: Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Computer Sciences (CSC), Zynga (ZNGA), Kellogg (K)
- Unemployment Rate (Expected 5.5%)
- Earnings from: Visa (V), Allstate (ALL), Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR)
- Bank of England Interest Rate Decision (Expected 0.50%), ECB Interest Rate Decision (Expected 0.75%), U.S. Nonfarm Productivity (Expected -1.2%), U.S. Unit Labor Costs (Expected 2.9%)
- Earnings from: Noble Energy (NBL), Coinstar (CSTR), Sprint (S), Cigna (CI), Activision-Blizzard (ATVI)
- Chinese CPI (Expected 2.0% Year-over-Year), Canadian Unemployment Rate (Expected 7%), U.S. Trade Balance (Expected -$46B)
- Earnings from: AOL (AOL)