Earnings season for the fourth quarter of last year has now moved into February, and 24/7 Wall St. has put together a preview of the three Dow Jones Industrial Average companies that are reporting their quarterly results this week. We included the consensus earnings estimates from Thomson Reuters and the stock price and trading history, as well as added some additional color on each.
Be advised that the earnings and revenue estimates may change ahead of the formal reports, and some companies may change reporting dates as well.
Exxon Mobil
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is set to report its fourth-quarter results on Tuesday. The analysts’ consensus estimates call for earnings per share (EPS) of $0.64 and $51.36 billion in revenue.
Exxon is one of Merrill Lynch’s top 10 picks for 2016. The firm is very positive on Exxon long-term as the overall corporate strength of the massive integrated giant plays a significant part in its usually solid earnings reporting pattern. A very solid reason for adding the stock to a long-term growth portfolio is that it has consistently demonstrated disciplined investing, operational excellence and technological innovation. The company’s global downstream chemical segment plays a huge part for Exxon, a part that many on Wall Street don’t fully appreciate as the segment contributes an estimated 16% of overall total revenue.
Shares were changing hands at $75.77 on Friday’s close. The consensus analyst price target is $80.90, and the stock has a 52-week trading range of $66.55 to $93.45.
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Pfizer
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is expected to share its latest quarterly earnings on Tuesday before the opening bell. The consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.52 and $13.57 billion in revenue.
With a strong pipeline and the fact that this company is the world’s largest drug manufacturer by sales volume, many analysts feel that Pfizer can generate higher long-term revenues through the accelerated growth of its new drugs over the next five years, with Ibrance leading the way. Sales of Ibrance totaled more than $250 million in the firm’s most recent quarterly earnings report. The pill, which essentially doubled the survival rate for certain advanced breast cancer patients, is already being widely prescribed.
Shares closed at $30.39 on Friday, in a 52-week trading range of $28.47 to $36.46. The consensus price target is $40.19.
Merck
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is set to report its latest quarterly results before trading begins on Wednesday. The consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.91 and revenue of $10.36 billion.
This company sells numerous prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and consumer care and animal health products, provided to customers in more than 140 countries. Merck is the world’s fourth-biggest drugmaker by revenue and boosted its annual profit forecast earlier this year. The company recently announced very encouraging data from two pivotal Phase 3 clinical studies for its investigational antitoxin bezlotoxumab for prevention of recurrence of clostridium difficile infection. Data from the studies dubbed MODIFY I and MODIFY II evaluated the use of bezlotoxumab alone or in combination with actoxumab. Both the studies met their primary efficacy endpoint.
Shares changed hands at the end of the week at $50.48. The consensus price target is $60.84. Shares have traded between $45.69 and $61.93 in the past year.
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