Earnings Expectations for the Week of April 15

The earnings crunch is on this week, with first-quarter results due from such iconic blue chips as Coca-Cola, General Electric, Google, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's and Microsoft.

Analysts expect to see year-over-year earnings growth from each of them, but earnings declines from Intel, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs.

Here is a day-by-day rundown of what analysts expect from some of the most prominent of the week's many, many quarterly reports.

Monday

Citigroup C gets things started off first thing Monday morning. The forecast calls for $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) and revenue of $20.17 billion. That would be up from $1.11 per share and $19.41 billion in the same period of last year.

Tuesday

The day's highlights will include first-quarter reports from Coca-Cola KO and Johnson & Johnson JNJ before the markets open. Analysts are looking for sales and net income to be in the same neighborhood as the year-ago quarter for the former, while the top line of the latter is up about eight percent year-over-year to $17.42 billion and the bottom line is up marginally to $1.40 per share.

Goldman Sachs GS and Intel INTC are projected to report declines in EPS of about one percent to $3.88 and more than 22 percent to $0.41, respectively. Goldman Sachs revenue is expected to be down less than three percent year-over-year to $9.70 billion, while that of Intel is more than two percent lower to $12.61 billion.

BlackRock BLK, U.S. Bancorp USB and Yahoo! YHOO are also expected to report annual earnings growth on Tuesday.

Wednesday

Bank of America BAC and American Express AXP step into the earnings spotlight mid-week. The first-quarter forecast for the former calls for $0.22 EPS on revenue on $23.41 billion, up from $0.03 per share and $22.28 billion a year ago. The credit services giant is expected to post $1.12 EPS on $8.04 billion in revenue, up year-over-year from $1.07 per share and $7.61 billion a year ago.

Also, Bank of New York Mellon BK is expected to say EPS declined and revenue was flat year-over-year.

Another highlight Wednesday will be eBay's EBAY first-quarter report. Analysts are looking for earnings more than 11 percent higher to $0.62 per share, as well as revenue up about 15 percent from a year ago to $3.77 billion.

SanDisk SNDK and St. Jude Medical STJ are expected to post earnings growth as well.

Thursday

Thursday will be the busiest day yet this earnings season. Google GOOG is expected to say after the closing bell that its EPS grew more than five percent to $10.69 while revenue was more than 72 percent higher to $14.04 billion.

Microsoft MSFT and IBM IBM are predicted to report growth in EPS of more than 11 percent to $0.68 and almost nine percent to $3.05, respectively. Microsoft revenue is expected to be up about 18 percent year-over-year to $20.56 billion, while that of IBM is essentially flat at $24.69 billion.

Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley MS will say its revenue jumped more than 20 percent from a year ago to $8.35 billion, but that first-quarter EPS ticked down fractionally to $0.57.

Also reporting Thursday are PepsiCo PEP and Verizon Communications VZ. The forecast for the former calls for $0.71 EPS on sales on $12.61 billion for the first-quarter, compared to $0.69 per share and $12.43 billion a year ago. The leading telecom is expected to post $0.66 EPS on $29.56 billion in revenue, up year-over-year from $0.59 per share and $28.24 billion a year ago.

Others expected to post earnings growth Thursday include Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG, Phillip Morris International PM and Union Pacific UNP.

But, earnings from Capital One Financial COF, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold FCX and UnitedHealth Group UNH are predicted to be lower. Another net loss is anticipated from Advanced Micro Devices AMD.

Friday

General Electric GE and McDonald's MCD take their turns on the earnings stage Friday morning. GE's EPS are forecast to be up marginally year-over-year to $0.35, while those from the golden arches are about three percent higher to $1.27. The revenue forecasts call for $34.67 billion (down less than two percent) and $6.59 billion (or essentially flat), respectively.

Honeywell International HON, Kimberly-Clark KMB and Schlumberger SLB are predicted to report earnings growth Friday morning as well.

See also: Weekly Preview: Earnings Season Kicks into High Gear