INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW YORK: Reports from Netflix, Intel and Texas Instruments next week may hint at what is to come in the December quarterly earnings season,
with some investors wary of possible danger signs that could knock Wall Street after its latest surge to record highs.
The S-P 500 has
gotten off to a strong start in January, up 3 per cent so far this year, fueled by a truce in the US-China trade war, low interest rates and
signs the economy remains healthy.
Analysts on average expect reports to show S-P 500 earnings per share fell 0.8 per cent in the fourth
quarter, with technology earnings seen up 0.6 per cent, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Investors are looking beyond fourth-quarter
results at what companies may say about outlooks and plans for investment in light of the recently signed Phase 1 trade deal between
Washington and Beijing.
Earnings estimates for the fourth quarter have already weakened slightly in the latest week as initial reports from
bucking that trend would be positive, Delwiche said.
The S-P information technology index .SPLRCT, which includes such market heavyweights
as Apple (AAPL.O), Intel (INTC.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O), has led Wall Street so far in 2020 with a nearly 6 per cent gain
It is up 50 per cent over the past year, the strongest performer over that period
importance of results from Intel on Thursday and Apple on Jan
28, the information technology sector is expected to have accounted for nearly 22 per cent of total S-P 500 operating earnings in the last
quarter of 2019, according to S-P Dow Jones Indices.