First-quarter earnings season ramps up this week, with 72 S&P 500 companies on deck to report. Coca-Cola, IBM, and United Airlines Holdings kick things off on Monday, followed by Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Netflix, and Procter & Gamble on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Halliburton, Lam Research, and Verizon Communications will release earnings. American Airlines Group, AT&T, Freeport-McMoRan, Intel, and Southwest Airlines headline a busy Thursday. Finally, American Express, Honeywell International, and Schlumberger close the week on Friday.
Notable releases on the economic calendar this week include the National Association of Realtors’ existing-home sales data for March and the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index for March, both on Thursday. On Friday, IHS Markit releases both of its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers’ Indexes for April. The Census Bureau will also report sales of new single-family houses for March.
Finally, the European Central Bank will announce its latest monetary-policy decision in Frankfurt on Thursday. The consensus expectation is that policymakers will hold its benchmark interest rate unchanged at half a point below zero.
Monday 4/19
Coca-Cola, IBM, M&T Bank, Prologis, United Airlines Holdings, and Zions Bancorp report earnings.
Tuesday 4/20
Abbott Laboratories, CSX, Edwards Lifesciences, Fifth Third Bancorp, Intuitive Surgical, Johnson & Johnson, KeyCorp, Lockheed Martin, Netflix, Northern Trust, Philip Morris International, Procter & Gamble, and Travelers report quarterly results.
Adobe, Bank of America, Boeing, Moody’s, Public Service Enterprise Group, and U.S. Bancorp hold their annual meetings of shareholders as proxy season kicks into high gear.
Wednesday 4/21
Anthem, ASML Holding, Baker Hughes, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Crown Castle International, Discover Financial Services, Halliburton, Lam Research, Nasdaq, NextEra Energy, and Verizon Communications release earnings.
Thursday 4/22
The European Central Bank announces its monetary-policy decision. The central bank is widely expected to keep its key short-term interest rate unchanged at negative 0.5%.
American Airlines Group, American Electric Power, AT&T, Biogen, Danaher, Dow, Equifax, Freeport-McMoRan, HCA Healthcare, Intel, Nucor, Old Dominion Freight Line, Quest Diagnostics, Southwest Airlines, Union Pacific, and Valero Energy hold conference calls to discuss quarterly results.
The National Association of Realtors reports existing-home sales for March. Consensus estimate is for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.3 million homes sold, slightly higher than February’s 6.2 million. Existing-home sales are slightly off the recent peak from last October, but are stronger than at any point since the housing bubble burst nearly 15 years ago.
The Conference Board releases its Leading Economic Index for March. Economists forecast a 0.6% month-over-month increase, after a 0.2% gain in February. The Conference Board’s most recent forecast calls for 5.5% growth in gross domestic product this year.
Friday 4/23
American Express, Honeywell International, Kimberly-Clark, Regions Financial, and Schlumberger, release quarterly results.
IHS Markit releases both its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers’ Index for April. Expectations are for a 60.3 reading for the Manufacturing PMI and a 60.5 reading for the Services PMI. Both estimates would be three-year highs for their respective indexes.
The Census Bureau reports sales of new single-family houses for March. Consensus estimate is for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 831,000 homes sold, up from February’s 775,000 figure. Then, the median sales price of a new home was $349,400, just shy of December’s all-time high of $356,600.
Write to Nicholas Jasinski at [email protected]
