What to Focus on During the Earnings Season 2024?
The earnings season that takes place in January 2024 is an important time for investors. It provides insights into the financial health of businesses. During this period, companies release their quarterly earnings reports, which can significantly impact their stock prices. The earnings season starts with the release of earnings reports from major firms, including large banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup.
Estimate company performance
A company’s sales and profits performance is a critical consideration. If a company exceeds forecasts on sales and profits, it is generally considered a strong performer. Additionally, if company executives raise their forecast for sales and profits in the future, it’s viewed as the most favorable scenario.
Remember about industry trends
Analysts predict different growth rates for different sectors. For example, the energy sector has the highest percentage of analyst “buy” ratings at 64%, followed by communication services at 62%. The consumer staples sector has the lowest percentage of analyst “buy” ratings at just 47%.
Consider inflation and interest rates
Macro trends such as rising interest rates and inflation can impact earnings. Increasing interest rates raise borrowing costs for US consumers and corporations, putting pressure on investment and economic growth. Inflation has also increased input costs for US companies, squeezing profit margins and affecting earnings.
The Federal Reserve’s future interest rates have a significant impact on the earnings season. The Fed’s decision to maintain or alter interest rates can influence companies’ profitability. Higher interest rates can increase borrowing costs for companies, reducing their profits.
In 2024, the Fed is expected to keep interest rates constant at the end of its next meeting on January 31. However, the market is currently slightly ahead of Fed leaders in predicting interest rate cuts. The latest Summary of Economic Projections from December 2023 suggests that the median Fed forecast expects short-term rates to be just above 4.5% by December 2024. At the same time, fixed-income futures markets anticipate a higher probability that rates will drop below 4% by then.
Therefore, investors must carefully observe the Fed’s actions and the broader economic climate during the earnings season to make well-informed decisions.
Earnings season Q1 2024
Here is the calendar of earnings reports that may be of interest for you. Trade stocks of these companies on Headway! Start now →
| Date | Company |
| 16/01 | Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) |
| 18/01 | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) |
| 19/01 | SLB (SLB) |
| 23/01 | 3M Co (MMM), General Electric (GE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Procter & Gamble (PG), Verizon Communications (VZ), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), Netflix (NFLX), Visa Inc Class A (V) |
| 24/01 | AT&T (T), International Business Machines (IBM), ServiceNow Inc (NOW), Tesla (TSLA) |
| 25/01 | Blackstone (BX), Intel Corp (INTC) |
| 26/01 | American Express (AXP) |
| 30/01 | Amgen (AMGN), Caterpillar Inc (CAT), General Motors (GM), Pfizer (PFE), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Microsoft Corp (MSFT), Mondelez (MDLZ), Snap Inc A (SNAP) |
| 31/01 | Automatic Data Processing (ADP), Boeing (BA), Mastercard (MA), Novo Nordisk (NVO), Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), Qualcomm Inc (QCOM) |
| 1/02 | Ball Corp (BLL), Merck & Co (MRK), Starbucks Corp (SBUX), Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK), Alphabet Inc C (GOOG), Alphabet Inc A (GOOGL), Amazon.com (AMZN), Apple Inc (AAPL), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Meta Platforms (META), MicroStrategy (MSTR) |
| 2/02 | AbbVie (ABBV), Aon (AON), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Chevron (CVX), Exxon Mobil (XOM) |
| 5/02 | The Estee Lauder Companies (EL), McDonald’s Corp (MCD), Pinterest (PINS) |
| 6/02 | Eli Lilly and Co (LLY), Spotify Technology SA (SPOT), Willis Towers Watson (WTW), Ford Motor Co (F) |
| 7/02 | The Walt Disney Co (DIS) |
| 8/02 | Philip Morris International (PM), Illumina (ILMN), PayPal Holdings (PYPL) |
| 9/02 | PepsiCo (PEP) |
| 12/02 | Palantir Technologies (PLTR), Arista Networks (ANET) |
| 13/02 | Coca-Cola (KO), Airbnb (ABNB) |
| 14/02 | Barrick Gold (GOLD), CME Group (CME), Cisco Systems (CSCO), QuantumScape (QS) |
| 15/02 | The Kraft Heinz Co (KHC), Applied Materials (AMAT) |
| 16/02 | Deere & Co (DE) |
| 20/02 | Medtronic (MDT), The Home Depot (HD), Walmart (WMT) |
| 21/02 | Teladoc Health (TDOC) |
| 22/02 | Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP), Modern (MRNA), Newmont (NEM) |
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