The Week Ahead: Earnings from Facebook, Ford, Caterpillar; US Jobs Report

The last week of January should be a busy one for investors. In addition to several earnings reports from a number of major companies, investors will also get key economic data, including the monthly nonfarm payroll report. Industrial machine maker Caterpillar CAT will report earnings Monday. Analysts expect the company to report an earnings per share figure of $1.70 on revenue of $16.13 billion. Investors should look for Caterpillar's guidance on the Chinese economy, as the company is often seen as a proxy for China's continued industrialization. Car maker Ford F will report Tuesday. The consensus estimate calls for earnings of $0.26 on revenue of $33.01 billion. Shares of Ford are up significantly over the last three months, having rallied more than 30 percent. Skyworks Solutions SWKS, a handset chip supplier, reports Wednesday. Shares have been volatile over the last few days, after Apple's AAPL earnings report may cast some doubt on the growth of the smartphone market. Sterne Agee has a Buy rating on Skyworks and a $30 price target. Vijay Rakesh, Sterne's Skyworks Solutions analyst, believes that the company is poised to benefit from both the iPhone 5 and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4. “We believe SWKS is well positioned with the iPhone5 and a new Galaxy S4 ramp in Feb-Mar which should drive a better than seasonal MarQ,” Rakesh writes. Facebook FB is also reporting Wednesday. Analysts are anticipating an earnings per share figure of $0.15 on revenue of $1.52 billion. Since the company's disappointing IPO, shares have climbed back, and are up nearly 40 percent in the last three months. Tom Forte, an analyst at Telsey Advisory Group, is bullish on Facebook. He has no rating on the stock, but a $38 price target. “We'll be looking for progress on mobile monetization,” Forte told Benzinga. “They've taken the percentage of ad revenue from mobile up from 0 percent to 14 percent. We think by the fourth quarter of 2013, it could be 25 percent.” Beyond earnings, the market will digest all sorts of economic data points. Investors will get data on new home sales, durable goods orders, consumer confidence, and GDP. Ultimately, it will all lead up to Friday's nonfarm payroll report. Economists are anticipating a gain of 160,000 jobs, along with an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent -- unchanged from last month. On the global front, the currency market remains volatile, particularly the Japanese yen, which has depreciated significantly against the dollar since mid-December. Tommy Molloy, the Chief Analyst at FX Solutions thinks there could be further yen weakness on the horizon. "Right now, it seems that a few trends are emerging," Molloy told Benzinga. "Expectations for USD/JPY are being revised upwards toward 95..I've even heard some traders talking about the triple digits." Overall, the week is shaping up to be one of the busiest in recent months. Monday

• Earnings from: Caterpillar CAT, VMWare VMW, Illumina ILMN
• Durable Goods Orders (Expected 1.8% month-over-month), Pending Home Sales (Expected 0.3%), Dallas Fed (Prior 6.8)

Tuesday

• Earnings from: Eli Lilly LLY, AK Steel AKS, Nucor NUE, DR Horton DHI, Ford F
• Consumer Confidence (Expected 64)

Wednesday

• Earnings from: Fusion-IO FIO, Northrop Grumman NOC, Tetra Tech TTEK, Skyworks Solutions SWKS, QUALCOMM QCOM, Facebook FB
• ADP Nonfarm Employment Change (Expected 163k), GDP (Expected 1.5% Quarter-over-Quarter)

Thursday

• Earnings from: AutoNation AN, Mastercard MA, Xcel Energy XEL, Sherwin-Williams SHW, PulteGroup PG, Time Warner TWC, Under Armour UA
• Personal Income (Expected 0.8% Month-over-Month), Personal Spending (Expected 0.3% Month-over-Month)

Friday

• Earnings from: Legg Mason LM, LyondellBasell LYB
• Nonfarm Payrolls (Expected 155K), Unemployment Rate (Expected 7.8%), Michigan Consumer Sentiment (Expected 71.5), ISM Manufacturing Index (Expected 50.5)