Second-Quarter Earnings Season Starts Next Week. Here's What to Expect.
Expectations are high for Q2 earnings reports from several major companies.
Overview
The second-quarter earnings season begins next week. As usual, the big banks will kick off earnings season, with the first reports on Tuesday, July 14.
So, what should we expect? After all, share prices ultimately follow earnings. Many factors can move stocks in the short term (wars, oil price spikes, unexpected economic data, or policy moves by the Federal Reserve are a few). But if you want to get a sense of where the stock market is heading in the medium and long term, watching earnings is a great start.
Details
Right now, analysts estimate that S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) companies' earnings in Q2 will rise 23.3% from the same quarter a year ago. That's according to FactSet, an authoritative source of earnings data. If that estimate proves correct, it would mark the second consecutive quarter of earnings growth above 20% for the index. (Analysts focus on the S&P 500 because it tracks the 500 largest U.S.-listed companies and represents about 80% of the total market capitalization of all U.S. companies.)
Source
Originally published at www.fool.com.