On Earnings this Week: Techs Take Center Stage

Bullish investors got their relief rally last week after losses from financial companies proved to be not as bad as many analysts were predicting. However, the Nasdaq didn’t partake in the rally after Google
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and Microsoft
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disappointed investors with their quarterly results.

The Nasdaq may make up some of its lost ground this week as we hear results from a number of technology heavy-hitters including Apple
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, Yahoo!
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, Baidu.com
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, and Amazon.com
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.

On Monday, financial results continue to trickle in from American Express
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and Bank of America
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, but the one to watch is Apple Inc. Apple shares fell to their lowest level since April on Friday after Sony Ericsson’s quarterly profit tumbled 97% and it said that it sees challenging times ahead. Analysts are expecting Apple to report a 17% increase in quarterly profit to $1.08 per share on revenue of $7.36 billion. In the near-term, the performance is firm in a narrowing or reversing trend, cutting back its evening performance in next day trade in the last three of four quarters. On April 23, Apple fell 0.7% in after-hours trade after beating on Q2 but setting Q3 earnings guidance below the analyst consensus. The stock reversed the next day, ending higher by 3.7%.

All eyes will be on Yahoo on Tuesday after the market closes. Shares have been quite volatile over the past few months as talks of a deal with Microsoft fizzled, resulting in attempts by Carl Icahn to oust the current Board of Directors. This is a stock that longs need to be wary of. Yahoo is mixed in the near-term, widening once, narrowing twice, and reversing course once between the sessions in the last four quarters. The longer-term trend is mixed as well, with eight narrower, one reversing, and seven wider next-day moves. On April 22, Yahoo rose 0.5% in after-hours trading after beating on Q1. Shares reversed course the following day, ending lower by 1.6%.

Baidu.com is set to release its second quarter results after the bell Wednesday. Again, another stock for longs to be wary of going into the regular session. The stock shows a tendency to narrow or reverse its next-day share move following its post-earnings share performance in the preceding evening session. It’s done so eight times and widened three times in the quarters we’ve tracked. Near term, it’s narrowed its move for three of the last four quarters; it widened last quarter.

Amazon.com, Inc. will also report after the close on Wednesday. The stock has been one of the more consistent session-to-session performers within MidnightTrader’s earnings database. The stock has compiled wider next-day closing levels following 15 of its last 17 after-hours earnings events. The near-term events strongly favor the widening trend, crossing more aggressive next-day trade in five of its last quarters.

On Thursday, Level 3 Communications
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may be a nice stock to play if you are going long. The issue is favoring a widening pattern between the sessions, seeing eight wider moves, four narrowing events and one trade where the stock did not hit any extended-hours matches. In the near-term, it is firm in a widening trend, doing so in five of the last six quarterly earnings events. On April 23, shares jumped 17.7% in pre-market trading after its Q1 revenue beat but earnings missed by a penny a share. The stock widened in the regular session to finish up 22.8%.

Cassie Guglielmo is a Senior Editor at www.MidnightTrader.com.