Earnings Expectations For The Week Of October 27: Facebook, Exxon, Pfizer And Much More

Lots more

are on tap this week, from social media giants like

and

to petroleum supermajors

and

, from major pharmaceutical makers

and

to consumer goods giants like

and

. Here is a quick look at what analysts are expecting from some of this week's most prominent quarterly reports.

reports late Tuesday and

reports late Monday. Expectations are high for the former, with consensus estimates for earnings per share (EPS) up more than 37 percent to $0.40 and revenue of $3.12 billion, or more than 54 percent higher than a year ago. The estimates for the latter call for EPS of $0.01 -- its first forecast profit, but a penny less than the EPS in the previous quarter-- and revenue of $351.35 million. Twitter has yet to fall short of EPS expectations since its initial public offering.

is also expected to post earnings growth this week, while an EPS decline is projected for

. See also:

Declines in both EPS and revenue are predicted for both

and

when the company's share their latest results before Friday's opening bell. For the former, EPS of $2.56 (down by a penny) are expected, and for the latter $1.73 (down by $0.06). Revenue of $52.97 billion (down less than 10 percent) and $105.51 billion (down about 6 percent), respectively, are forecast. Year-over-year earnings declines are also expected from

and

this week. But look for growth on the bottom line from

and

, as well as smaller EPS from

and flat EPS from

, if analysts are correct.

Among drug makers and biotech companies, results from

and

will be highlights this week. For the former, the consensus forecast calls for $0.55 EPS and sales of $12.22 billion, down from $0.58 and $12.58 billion in the same period of last year. Earnings of $0.88 per share on revenue of $10.67 billion are expected from the latter. That would be down from $0.92 per share and $11.03 billion in the year-ago period. Declines on the top and bottom lines are forecast for both companies in the current quarter as well. Merck reports first thing Monday and Pfizer before the markets open Tuesday. Expectations for

are higher, with strong results expected for the most recent quarter. Earnings growth is also predicted for

, but lower EPS for

and

.

A variety of consumer goods makers step into the earnings spotlight this week, with both

and

set to report Thursday morning. From the cigarette maker, EPS of $0.68 (up more than 4 percent) and sales of $4.73 billion (up less than 3 percent) are expected. The cosmetics purveyor will say that EPS were $0.03 higher to $0.17 while revenue slipped about 7 percent to $2.16 billion, if forecasts are accurate. Both Altria and Avon missed EPS estimates by a penny in the previous period. Look for earnings gains this week too from

and

, if analysts are correct, but for EPS to have shrunk at Coach. See also:

is scheduled to report after the closing bell on Thursday, followed by competitor

the following morning. EPS gains are on tap for both of them, according to consensus forecasts: nearly 12 percent to $2.10 for Visa, and more than 4 percent to $0.78 for MasterCard. Both EPS estimates are unchanged in the past 60 days. Visa's revenue for the quarter is expected to be more than 7 percent higher than a year ago to $3.19 billion, while the revenue for the other is believed to be up more than 10 percent to $2.45 billion. The rate of revenue growth for both is expected to increase in the current quarter, which includes the holiday shopping season.

Analysts are looking for posted EPS gains this week also from