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Top 10 Earnings to Watch in the Coming Week

Corporate earnings season is in full swing, and 24/7 Wall St. has put together a preview of some of the larger reporting companies for the coming week. We have taken a review of the consensus earnings estimates, stock price and trading history, and added some additional color on each.

Microsoft

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is set to report its second-quarter earnings Monday afternoon after the close of trading. Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $0.71 in earnings per share (EPS) and $26.32 billion in revenue.

With a new CEO making the right strategic moves and the company evolving away from dependence of the Office suite of products, the future for the software giant looks very bright. With potential earnings surprises and a host of product catalysts to boost visibility and earnings in 2015, Microsoft remains one of the top picks for growth and income investors. 24/7 Wall St has included more on the 2015 outlook in our bullish and bearish evaluation of Microsoft.

Shares were trading at $46.88 Friday. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $50.03 and a 52-week trading range of $35.69 to $50.05.

Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) will report its fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday before the markets open. Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $1.55 in EPS and revenue of $14.18 billion.

Caterpillar trades with a low multiple because its core markets are in flux. The global growth engine has slowed in core emerging markets, and the mining industries are suffering from weak pricing around the globe. Analysts expect that Caterpillar’s revenues will have been down by about 1% in 2014 — with growth expected at less than 2% for 2015. Another headwind is the strong U.S. dollar, making exports more expensive for foreign buyers.

Shares were trading at $85.46 Friday. The stock has a consensus price target of $97.10 and a 52-week trading range of $83.05 to $111.46.

ALSO READ: 5 Top Merrill Lynch US 1 List Stocks to Buy for 2015

Apple

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) will report its first-quarter earnings Tuesday after the market close. The consensus estimates are for $2.59 in EPS and $67.45 billion in revenue.

Apple finally pays a dividend, which produces a yield of 1.8%. Its balance sheet cash position swells by billions of dollars each quarter and its board has decided to put billions more into share buybacks. Apple’s stock has continued it rapid rise. If products like the iPhone 6 continue to dominate the smartphone markets, Apple’s product advantages and sales will only grow. Analysts such as Credit Suisse have called for Apple to rise even higher after posting a solid year.

Shares were trading at $112.36 Friday. The consensus analyst price target is $123.33, and the 52-week trading range is $70.51 to $119.75.

Yahoo

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) will report its fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday after the markets close. The consensus estimates are for $0.29 in EPS and revenue of $1.19 billion.

In December, Yahoo achieved its highest U.S. search share for over five years, according to the latest data from StatCounter, the independent website analytics provider. Google fell to the lowest monthly share yet recorded by the company. This is a very favorable way for Yahoo to close out its quarter as it derives a fair amount of its revenue from search. In the previous month, Merrill Lynch upgraded Yahoo to Buy, largely due to its Alibaba exposure. Should Alibaba earnings be favorable later in the week, it would give a solid boost to Yahoo.

Shares were at $48.90 Friday morning. The consensus price target is $51.15, and shares have traded in a 52-week range of $32.15 to $52.62.

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Boeing

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday before the markets open. Analysts are looking for $2.12 in EPS and $23.89 billion in revenue.

United Continental is reportedly preparing to place an order for 10 Boeing 777-300ERs, each of which is tagged with a list price of $330 million. United, of course, will not pay anything near the list price. In fact, sources say United will pay just $130 million per plane. The usual discounted price on the plane is around $150 million. While it may sound like Boeing is giving away one of its premier products, it really allows Boeing to keep the production line for the current version of the plane going until the new 777X is ready for delivery to customers. For more on Boeing’s outlook, check out our bullish and bearish evaluation for 2015.

Shares were at $135.36 Friday. The consensus price target is $149.81. The 52-week trading range is $116.32 to $140.47.

Facebook

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday after the markets close. The consensus estimates are for $0.48 in EPS and $3.78 billion in revenue.

Facebook is recently shown to have had a global economic impact of roughly $227 billion. The study was conducted by Deloitte, but the claims may be impossible to prove. Analysts are now calling for Facebook’s stock to rise over the $100 mark. Recently both Oppenheimer and Credit Suisse set their price targets as such, with an Outperform rating.

Shares traded at $77.85 Friday. The consensus price target is $89.18, and the stock has a 52-week trading range of $51.85 to $82.17.

Qualcomm

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) is set to report its first-quarter results Wednesday after the markets close. Consensus estimates call for $1.25 in EPS and $6.93 billion in revenue.

Qualcomm was one of Wells Fargo’s top picks for 2015 out of the semiconductor group. The analyst firm believes that Qualcomm is not fully appreciated by investors for its leadership position in 4G communications chip technology. However, there are some legal and regulatory customer disputes at the moment that do carry some risk and uncertainty with the stock. Wells Fargo is optimistic that there will be a positive resolution to Qualcomm’s issues in China, and it further believes that this could prove to be a positive catalyst to the stock and a source of potential EPS upside at various points over the next one to three years.

Shares were trading at $71.70 Friday. The consensus price target is $79.87. The 52-week trading range is $67.67 to $81.97.

ALSO READ: 5 Top High-Yielding Dividend REIT Stock Picks for 2015

Alibaba

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) will report its results Thursday before the opening bell. The consensus estimates are for $0.75 in earnings per share and $4.45 billion in revenue.

This will be the first time that Alibaba reports its earnings publicly, and it will give analysts a good jumping off point to feel out the company. Merrill Lynch previously summarized Alibaba’s position in 2015 as:

While we were bullish on Alibaba for most of 2015, post IPO we thought that it could take a year or longer to get visibility on potential tax savings of Yahoo’s remaining stake in Alibaba and that Yahoo could trade at a sum-of-parts discount to asset value.

Early in Friday’s trading day, shares were at $104.31. The consensus analyst price target is $120.64, and the 52-week trading range is $82.81 to $120.00.

Amazon

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is set to report its earnings Thursday after the markets close. The consensus estimates are for EPS of $0.17 and revenue of $29.73 billion.

Citigroup made a call on Amazon that talked up its attractive valuation, as well as top-line growth and more stable margins. On valuation, there appears to be a good risk-reward and valuation support near $300, as well as upside to at least $354 without assuming multiple expansion. Strong online holiday shopping data is expected to be favorable for fourth-quarter results.

In the first half of Friday’s trading day, shares were at $312.89. The stock has a consensus price target of $357.51. Shares have traded between $284.00 and $406.25 in the past year.

ALSO READ: Merrill Lynch’s Top Technology Stock Picks for 2015

Chevron

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) is set to report its fourth-quarter earnings first thing Friday morning. Analysts are looking for EPS of $1.63 on $34.62 billion in revenue.

Chevron was one of the worst performing Dow stocks early in 2015. This should be no surprise given that oil prices are down around 50% over the past six months or so. Chevron’s bad news is not entirely behind it either. The company almost certainly will have to take an impairment charge on the value of its reserves, given the dip in prices, and the lower the value of an oil company’s reserves, the higher its cost of capital.

Shares were changing hands at $107.99 Friday. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $118.71 and a 52-week trading range of $100.15 to $135.10.

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