Earnings Expectations For The Week Of October 21: The Crunch Is On

Lots of quarterly reports are on deck this week, to go along with all the delayed economic data expected to be released. Analysts and investors should have plenty to mull over. Earnings highlights will include reports from AT&T, McDonald's, Microsoft and Netflix, which are all expected to post year-over-year earnings growth. Analysts are looking for an earnings decline from Ford and a net loss from Amazon.com. Below is a quick day-by-day run down of analyst expectations for some of the week's most prominent reports. Monday McDonald's MCD gets things started Monday morning, while Netflix NFLX shares its results later in the day. The fast-food giant is expected to say that earnings per share (EPS) grew more than five percent year-over-year to $1.51, while revenue rose less than three percent to $7.34 billion. The forecast for Netflix has EPS more than 73 percent higher to $0.49 on revenue that is up more than 21 percent to $1.1 billion. See also: McDonald's Earnings Preview: Was The Menu Tinkering Worth It? Others forecast to report year-over-year earnings growth on Monday include Halliburton HAL, Hasbro HAS, SAP SAP and Texas Instruments TXN. EPS from Discover Financial Services DFS are expected to be the same as a year ago, while an earnings decline is predicted from Gannett (NYSE GCI). Tuesday Delta Air Lines DAL is scheduled to share its third-quarter results Tuesday before the opening bell. The forecast has EPS up almost 34 percent year-over-year to $1.36 on revenue that is more than five percent higher to $10.47 billion. Amgen AMGN, DuPont DD, Harley-Davidson HOG, Juniper Networks JNPR, Kimberly-Clark KMB, Panera Bread PNRA and United Technologies UTX are expected to post earnings growth as well. Analysts are looking for earnings declines from Coach COH, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold FCX and Travelers Companies TRV when they report Tuesday, as well as another net loss from RadioShack RSH. Wednesday Before the opening bell, Boeing BA is expected to say that its EPS came to $1.55 and revenue totaled $21.68 billion. That would be up from $1.35 per share and $20.01 billion in revenue in the year-ago period. After the trading session ends, AT&T T is expected to post $0.76 per share and $1.71 billion in revenues. But that would be down year-over-year from EPS of $0.86 and revenue of $1.77 billion. Wednesday morning, also look for earnings growth from American Electric Power AEP, Brinker International EAT, Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY, Eli Lilly LLY, Northrop Grumman (NOC) and U.S. Airways LCC. Then later in the day, Cheesecake Factory CAKE, O'Reilly Automotive ORLY and Wynn Resorts WYNN are expected to join the earnings gainer parade. But the forecasts for Caterpillar CAT, General Dynamics GD and WellPoint WLP call for earnings declines. Thursday Thursday will be the busiest day of the week for earnings, and the early morning report from Ford Motor F will be one of the highlights. The automaker is expected to say that EPS fell more than seven percent from a year ago to $0.37, but that revenues grew about 13 percent to $34.21 billion. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan POT, Royal Caribbean Cruises RCL, Outerwall OUTR and Western Digital WDC also are likely to report declining earnings on Thursday. The day's other highlights include the end-of-the-day reports from Amazon.com AMZN and Microsoft MSFT. The consensus forecasts call for a net loss of $0.09 from the former and EPS of $0.54 (up marginally) from the latter. Amazon's revenues are expected to be up more than 21 percent to $16.77 billion, while those from Microsoft are about 11 percent higher to $17.78 billion. Altria MO, Colgate-Palmolive CL, Dow Chemical DOW, Dunkin' Brands DNKN and Hershey HSY are expected to show earnings growth in their reports Thursday. So are Express Scripts ESRX, Southwest Airlines LUV and 3M MMM. But analysts expect Zynga ZNGA to post a net loss. Friday Procter & Gamble PG and United Parcel Service (UPS) step into the earnings spotlight Friday morning. They are forecast to have EPS of $1.05 and $1.15, respectively. That would be down marginally for the former and up almost eight percent for the latter, relative to a year ago. Revenues for the consumer products giant are expected to be marginally higher to $21.06 billion. For the package delivery company, revenues are predicted to come in at $13.60 billion, or up about four percent year-over-year. Sherwin-Williams SHW is expected to show earnings growth as well, while analysts believe National Oilwell Varco NOV and Rockwell Collins COL will say that their earnings declined from the year-ago period. See also: Weekly Preview: Earnings Season Continues, Delayed U.S. Data To Hit Markets Follow us on Twitter.