Will Intel And Microsoft Top Earnings Expectations Again?

The new earnings season is underway, and among the highlights this week will be the latest quarterly results from several technology giants, including Intel Corporation INTC and Microsoft Corporation MSFT.

Wall Street analysts expect at least some growth on the top and bottom lines from both of them, judging by the consensus forecasts. Although both have topped earnings expectations in recent quarters, sentiment has been dwindling in recent weeks for one of them.

Below is a quick look at what analysts expect from these two reports, followed by a glance at some of the other most prominent earnings reports out of the many scheduled for this week.

Intel

When this leading semiconductor chip maker shares its first-quarter results late Tuesday, the consensus forecast of Estimize calls for a profit of $0.51 per share. That would be up from earnings per share (EPS) of $0.41 in the same period of last year. It is also higher than Wall Street expectations of $0.48 per share, which have slipped by two cents in the past 60 days.

Revenue for the three months that ended in March will be $14.05 billion, or up around 9 percent year over year, if the 172 Estimize survey respondents are correct. Wall Street analysts are looking for $13.86 billion. Note that in the previous two periods, revenue narrowly exceeded expectations.

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Microsoft

Wall Street's fiscal third-quarter forecast for the maker of Windows, Office and Xbox calls for earnings to have risen three cents from the year-ago period to $0.64 per share. That estimate is the same as it was 60 days ago, and the 95 Estimize respondents predict EPS will come in at $0.66.

Revenue fell short of estimates back in the third quarter, and now Estimize respondents are looking for $22.12 billion, just a tad more than the Wall Street forecast. That would be less than 2 percent higher year-over-year. But the analysts so far see full-year revenue down around 1 percent to $92.51 billion. Look for the company to report its results after Thursday's closing bell.

And Others

Other companies that Wall Street analysts expect to show at least some earnings growth when they report this week include Alphabet (Google), General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks and Verizon. On the other hand, EPS at American Airlines, American Express, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Netflix, PepsiCo, Philip Morris and Yahoo will be smaller than a year ago, if the consensus forecasts are correct.

In the following week, the new earnings season ramps up, with results expected from Apple, AT&T, Boeing, Comcast, eBay, Eli Lilly, Exxon Mobil, Facebook, Ford, Marriott, Procter & Gamble, 3M, Xerox and many more.

At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.