Ahead of Earnings: MA, V, QCOM, CLX, WFM

By: Billy Fisher

Our Trading Reports in this Article:

• MA
• V
• QCOM
• CLX
• WFM

This week the Q3 earnings season will begin to wind down, but not before some heavily-traded U.S. equities report their quarterly results. Wednesday in particular will see a flurry of earnings news and traders have already been betting on the potential outcomes. Here are four stocks to keep an eye on before they release their earnings.

Paying with Plastic

Before the market open on Wednesday, the transaction processing company Mastercard (NYSE: MA) will report its Q3 results. Analysts are expecting the company to announce a 22.3% jump in EPS on a 19.7% improvement in total revenue when compared to the year-ago quarter.

Rival Visa (NYSE: V) weighed in with strong quarterly results last week as the company noted that its payments volume continues to grow at a healthy clip. Shares of V have jumped 35.1% so far this year. MA shares have fared even better as they have surged 58.2% year-to-date.

After the market close on Wednesday, the wireless chipset manufacturer Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) will announce its fiscal Q4 results. The consensus on Wall Street is that the company will report a 14.7% increase in EPS on a 35.4% advance in total revenue versus the prior year quarter. Shares of QCOM have risen 7.6% so far this year.

Clean Image

On Wednesday, the household cleaning products company Clorox (NYSE: CLX) is slated to release the results of its fiscal Q1. Analysts are expecting the company to report 5.1% decline in EPS despite a slight uptick in total revenue when compared to the same quarter last year.

Earlier this year, Clorox succeeded in fighting off a proxy challenge from activist investor Carl Icahn. Icahn had picked up a 9% stake in the company and was looking to take control of the Clorox board of directors so that a potential sale of the company could be examined. Shares of CLX are up 4.7% year-to-date.

One other name that traders will be monitoring prior to Wednesday is Whole Foods Market (NYSE: WFM). The grocery store chain will be preparing to announce its fiscal Q4 results after the market close. Analysts are calling for a 24.2% increase in EPS and a 12.7% gain in sales on a year-over-year basis. WFM shares have rallied 44.6% since the beginning of this year.

Support and Resistance Plot Chart for

Real Time Updates for Repeat Institutional Readers:

Factset: Request User/Pass

Bloomberg, Reuters, Refinitiv, Zacks, or IB users: Access Here.