Here's your weekly Investing Action Plan: what you need to know as an investor for the coming week.
Tech darlings Apple (AAPL), Tesla Motors (TSLA), Amazon[ticker symb=AMZN] and Alphabet (GOOGL) will report earnings as well as aerospace and defense leaders Boeing (BA) and Lockheed Martin (LMT). Industrial giants, big biotechs and medical device makers will weigh in too, as will oil majors Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX). Apple and Tesla will also unveil new products. And an initial reading on Q3 GDP growth will be the highlight of the week's economic reports.
Stocks To Watch
Tech names Alibaba (BABA), Facebook (FB), Best Buy (BBY), Texas Instruments (TXN) and Broadcom (AVGO) lead your stocks to watch this week, with the Chinese e-commerce giant and social media leader providing buying opportunities and the rest nearing buy points.
Alibaba, a member of IBD's Leaderboard, entered a follow-on buy zone after finding support at its 50-day moving average near the 100 price level, marking the first buying opportunity since its August breakout.
Facebook, another Leaderboard member, is trading back in buy range from an entry at 128.43 after finding support at its 50-day line. The stock topped its all-time high of 131.98 and closed Friday just a penny below a secondary buy point of 132.08.
Ahead of the holiday shopping season, big-box consumer electronics retailer Best Buy is 2% below a 40.31 buy point as it works on the handle of a cup-with-handle base.
Texas Instruments is 3.8% below a potential buy point at 72.68 ahead of its quarterly earnings on Wednesday, and Broadcom is 3.7% below a 179.52 buy point.
IBD'S TAKE: Analysts are bullish on Alibaba, an IBD 50 stock, pointing out last week that e-commerce giant will benefit from an expansion among the top five express delivery companies in that country.
Another Decline For Apple
Earnings and sales are forecast to decline on a year-over-year basis for the third straight quarter when Apple reports fiscal Q4 results after the market close Tuesday. Analysts expect EPS of $1.65, down 16%, on sales of $46.9 billion, down 9%, in the quarter ended Sept. 24. Smartphone sales are believed to have slowed ahead of the launch of the iPhone 7 on Sept. 16. Analysts think Apple's sales and EPS will fall for a fourth straight quarter in fiscal Q1 before returning to growth in Q2.
On Thursday, Apple is holding a media event to show off its latest Mac notebook and desktop computers.
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Tesla: Back In Black
The electric vehicle maker reports after the close Wednesday, and analysts see it swinging to an adjusted profit of 4 cents a share after seven straight quarters of losses. Revenue is seen surging 85% to $2.3 billion, as Q3 vehicle deliveries jumped 70% from Q2 to 24,500. Tesla expects Q4 deliveries to be flat to slightly higher than in Q3, but it faces unease from Wall Street about the company's ability to successfully integrate SolarCity (SCTY) while ramping up Model 3 production next year.
On Friday, Tesla and SolarCity plan to introduce a solar roof product that will be integrated with the new version of Tesla's at-home battery, the Powerwall 2.0, and Tesla's charger.
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Amazon
Amazon received several price target hikes ahead of its earnings report set for after the close on Thursday, and the consensus is EPS of 80 cents. While that would be a 371% jump, it actually represents a slowdown from Q2's 837% pop. Revenue is seen up 29% to $32.68 billion. Amazon Prime remains a key revenue growth driver along with Amazon Web Services where momentum continues to offset growing competitive pressure. A Pacific Crest Securities report said AWS field checks suggest expanding deal sizes at large enterprises and government agencies. Morgan Stanley also likes the strong growth at Amazon Prime, estimating there are now 60 million Prime members.
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Alphabet
Shares in Google-parent Alphabet have been hitting new all-time highs ahead of Q3 earnings slated for Thursday. EPS is expected to climb 17% to $8.63, with revenue up 18% to $22.04 billion. The company had $78.5 billion in cash on its books and its stock buyback ended in the June quarter, raising speculation over a new repurchase program. Some analysts are looking for Q3 upside from YouTube and Google's cloud computing business. Also watch for any indications on early demand for Google's new Pixel smartphone, which was unveiled last month along with a smart-home assistant and other devices.
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Boeing
Analysts expect Boeing to report a 3.2% increase in EPS to $2.60 but see revenue falling 8.6% to $23.64 billion, when it releases Q3 results Wednesday. The aerospace giant preannounced a 5.5% decline in commercial deliveries and a 4.2% increase in defense deliveries during the quarter. Watch for any further production cuts to its 777 line or another charge on its KC-46 military tanker. Boeing has also been forced to lay off some workers as rival Airbus (EADSY), which will also release results the same day, takes more market share.
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Defense Stocks
Lockheed reports Tuesday and analysts see EPS up 3.6% to $2.87 with revenue barely dipping to $11.45 billion from $11.46 billion. Watch for guidance on ramping up F-35 production and foreign military sales demand. Northrop Grumman (NOC) reports Wednesday, and Wall Street sees EPS up 2% to $2.81 with revenue up 0.6% to $6.02 billion. Raytheon (RTN) reports Thursday, and EPS is expected to climb 13% to $1.66 and revenue is seen rising 4.4% to $6.04 billion. Overseas sales of missiles and missile-defense systems have been growth drivers. General Dynamics (GD) is out Wednesday, and EPS should rise 4% to $2.38, while revenue is expected to ease 1% to $7.91 billion.
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Chipmakers
Texas Instruments and NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) report Wednesday. TI is forecast to earn 86 cents a share, up 13%, on sales of $3.48 billion, up 1.6%. It would mark the second straight quarter of improved sales growth for TI. NXP, a buyout target for Qualcomm (QCOM), is expected to earn $1.60 a share, up 2%, on sales of $2.46 billion, up 62%. It would be NXP's fourth quarter in a row of accelerating sales growth.
Industrial Heavies
Mining and construction equipment giant Caterpillar (CAT) gives results Tuesday, and the rebound in the commodities market should show up in its financials. EPS is seen rising 1% to 76 cents, ending five straight quarters of declines. Revenue is seen down 10% to $9.84 billion, the smallest decline since a gain five quarters ago.
Diversified manufacturer United Technologies (UTX) is out Tuesday, and analysts see EPS rising 3% to $1.66 on a 3.5% revenue gain to $14.27 billion. Watch for updates on delays to a Pratt & Whitney jet engine for Airbus, and clues to the commercial building market from units Otis and Carrier. Among other diversified industrials, 3M (MMM) and DuPont (DD) report Tuesday, while Dow Chemical (DOW) comes out Thursday.
Automakers will report amid signs U.S. demand is plateauing. General Motors (GM) is expected to see EPS dip 4% to $1.44 when it issues earnings Tuesday morning. Revenue is projected to rise 1.3% to $39.3 billion. Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) also gives results on Tuesday, while Ford (F) reports Thursday.
Oil Giants
ConocoPhillips (COP) kicks off a busy two weeks for oil companies on Thursday. Analysts expect its per-share loss to widen to 50 cents from 38 cents. Revenue is seen falling 7.3% to $6.98 billion. Exxon's Q3 EPS is seen falling 33.7% to 67 cents when it announces results Friday. Revenue is seen down 8.9% to $61.3 billion. EPS from Chevron, also out Friday, is expected to plunge 63.1% to 45 cents with revenue down 14.3% to $29.05 billion. The oil majors' reports come as crude prices and U.S. rig counts rose during Q3, but international activity remains muted. Watch for any signs that investment will start to come back.
Network, Fiber-Optic Hot Shots
Gigamon (GIMO), a member of the IBD 50, reports Thursday, and analysts expect EPS to jump 39% to 31 cents, with revenue rising 39% to $80 million. The company has expanded into security from its first market, communications-network appliances that analyze data traffic. Analysts also expect an update on Gigamon's products for Amazon's cloud platform. Lumentum (LITE) also reports Thursday, and analysts expect EPS to rise 69% to 44 cents and revenue to grow 19% to $252 million. Lumentum has been getting a boost from China's buildout of faster communications network as well as from Verizon Communications' (VZ) investments.
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Medical Device Makers
Edward Lifesciences (EW) reports late Tuesday, and the consensus is a 26% EPS increase to 68 cents and a 21.5% sales gain to $749.1 million. Early Wednesday, analysts expect Boston Scientific (BSX) to post EPS of 27 cents, up 12.5%, on sales of $2.07 billion, up 6%. Stryker (SYK) will follow late Thursday. Analysts are modeling EPS of $1.37, up 9.6%, on sales of $2.81 billion, up 16%.
Biotechs
Biogen (BIIB) is on deck early Wednesday when analysts expect EPS of $4.97, up 11%, and sales of $2.9 billion, up 4.5%. Celgene (CELG) follows early Thursday, and analysts see EPS up 20% to $1.48 and sales growing 21.5% to $2.84 billion. Late Thursday, Amgen (AMGN) is expected to report EPS of $2.80, up 2.9%, as sales remain flat at $5.73 billion.
GrubHub
GrubHub (GRUB), the provider of food delivery services, reports early Wednesday. EPS is seen growing 46% to 19 cents on revenue of $118.5 million, up 35%. GrubHub stock is up 80% this year. It continues to execute well despite growing competition from some deep-pocketed rivals like Uber, Amazon and now Facebook, which just launched new features where users can buy movie tickets and have food delivered, among other things.
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Under Armour
When Under Armour (UA) reports Q3 earnings early Tuesday, analysts expect the athletic apparel brand's EPS to grow 9% to 25 cents on 21% revenue growth to $1.46 billion. Expect commentary on its new high-end sportswear line, its first foray into lifestyle-oriented clothing. The Nike (NKE) rival has been trading below its key 50-day and 200-day moving averages since late August.
Economic Data
The Commerce Department is set to report Q3 GDP data on Friday, and economists expect growth to accelerate to 2.5% from 1.4% in Q2. The stronger dollar has been a headwind on exports, while uncertainty after the Brexit vote and ahead of the U.S. presidential election has put some investment on hold. But the drag from the oil bust is starting to ease.
Other top economic indicators due are the Case-Shiller home price index for August on Tuesday, September new home sales on Wednesday, durable goods orders and pending home sales on Thursday, and the Q3 employment cost index on Friday.
