High Hopes For Apple, Alibaba, Other Earnings This Week

• It will be a busy week on the earnings front, with many blue chip companies reporting.
• Results from Apple are among the most highly anticipated and forecast to be strong.
• Expectations are also high for Alibaba, Gilead Sciences and JetBlue Airways.

This week will be one of the busiest of the third-quarter earnings reporting season, with some of the giants in big oil, big pharma and technology on deck to share their latest quarterly results. Perhaps the biggest highlight of the week will be the report from Apple Inc. AAPL, and the expectations from Wall Street analysts are for strong results. Others expected to post double-digit growth this week on both the top and bottom lines, relative to the year-ago periods, include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA, Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD and JetBlue Airways Corporation JBLU. Below is a quick look at what is expected from these and a peek at some of the week's other most prominent reports. See also: 4 Ways To Play Wal-Mart's Historic Crash

Alibaba

In its report early Tuesday, this so-called Amazon of China is expected to report that its earnings per share (EPS) came to $3.45 for the period that ended in September, according to the Wall Street consensus forecast. That would be up from the $2.76 per share Alibaba posted in the year-ago period. Revenue is expected to total $21.32 billion for the fiscal second quarter, which would be more than 26 percent higher, relative to the same period of last year. Looking ahead, revenue growth is predicted to remain strong, up more than 23 percent in the current quarter and more than 26 percent for the full year.

Apple

The iPhone and Apple Watch maker will post earnings of $1.91 per share for its fiscal fourth quarter, if Estimize's consensus forecast is accurate. That would be up from $1.42 per share in the year-ago period. Wall Street is looking for EPS of $1.88 for the quarter, as well as $9.13 for the full year. The 732 Estimize survey respondents see revenue for the three months that ended in September at about $51.34 billion. That would be higher than company guidance and Wall Street expectations. Watch for Apple to report quarterly and fiscal year results after Tuesday's closing bell.

Gilead Sciences

When it shares its results late Tuesday, the consensus of 172 Estimize estimates is that this leading biotech company will show earnings of $3.00 per share. That would be up from $1.84 per share in the same period of last year. Note that the consensus Wall Street earnings estimate is just $2.87. Revenue for the three months that ended in September will be more than 30 percent higher than a year ago to $8.07 billion, if Estimize is correct, though it underestimated revenue in the past few periods. Wall Street is more pessimistic, with a $7.82 billion consensus revenue forecast for the third quarter.

JetBlue

The third-quarter forecast for the fifth largest U.S. airline calls for EPS to have more than doubled from in the year-ago period to $0.57, according to 59 Estimize respondents. Also, revenue is expected to have grown more than 10 percent to $1.68 billion for the three months that ended in September. The consensus Wall Street forecast for the third quarter is about the same. Looking ahead, the analysts see sequential and year-on-year revenue growth in the current quarter as well. JetBlue is scheduled to release its results Tuesday before the regular trading session begins. See also: Big-Name Tech Surges Post Earnings, Lifting Stock Averages

And Others

Also this week, at least some growth in earnings is coming from AbbVie, Alcatel-Lucent, Altria, Amgen, Boston Scientific, CVS Health, Express Scripts, Ford, Goodyear Tire, Hilton Worldwide, Marathon Petroleum, MasterCard, Merck, NXP Semicondictors, Phillips 66, Southern Company, Starbucks, T-Mobile, UPS, Valero Energy, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Williams Companies, if the analysts are correct. However, the consensus forecasts call for declining earnings from Anheuser-Busch, Baidu, Barrick Gold, Baxter, BP, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Broadcom, Chevron, Coach, Colgate-Palmolive, Comcast, Corning, DuPont, Eaton, Electronic Arts, Enterprise Products Partners, Exxon Mobil, Mondelez, Newmont Mining, Nokia, Occidental Petroleum, Pfizer, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Seagate Technology and Teva Pharmaceutical. And reflecting the pain the energy sector still feels, net losses are predicted for Anadarko Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, Hess and National Oilwell Varco. Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following Benzinga on Twitter.