Advertisement

Zacks Earnings Trends Highlights: Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Facebook and Apple

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 9, 2020 – Zacks Director of Research Sheraz Mian says, "Expectations remain low, both for banks as well as most other sectors, with total S&P 500 earnings expected to be down -44.4% on -10.9% lower revenues."

What Will Q2 Earnings Show?

Note: The following is an excerpt from this week’s Earnings Trends report. You can access the full report that contains detailed historical actual and estimates for the current and following periods, please click here>>>

Here are the key points:

  • The Q2 earnings season takes the spotlight as the big banks come out with results next week. Expectations remain low, both for banks as well as most other sectors, with total S&P 500 earnings expected to be down -44.4% on -10.9% lower revenues.

  • The pandemic-driven earnings hit is expected to bottom in Q2, with the declines in the second half of the year expected to improve from the Q2 level.

  • The massive negative revisions trend of the last three months appears to have eased in recent days, but that could change as companies start reporting June-quarter results next month and provide guidance.

  • Four sectors that are expected to lose money in Q2 (year-over-year declines of -100% or more) are Energy (-139.3% earnings decline), Autos (-231.9%), Transportation (-151.5%) and Consumer Discretionary (-115.8%).

  • Other sectors expected to suffer big earnings declines in Q2 include Conglomerates (-73.2%), Aerospace (-63.1%), Basic Materials (-59.1%), Industrial Products (-52.9%), Retail (-40.6%) and Finance (-40.2%).

  • The Technology sector stands out for having a lower earnings decline in Q2 relative to other sectors, with total earnings for the sector expected to decline -13.4% from the year-earlier period on -1.2% lower revenues.

  • For full-year 2020, total earnings for the S&P 500 index are currently expected to be down -24.3% on -5.9% lower revenues. This is down from close to +8% growth expected at the start of the year. For reference, S&P 500 earnings declined -19.1% in 2008 and -3.4% in 2009, though that was admittedly a different type of downturn.

  • Growth is expected to resume next year, thanks to easy comparisons, but the dollar level of earnings in 2021 will still be below the 2019 level.

  • The implied ‘EPS’ for the index, calculated using current 2020 P/E of 25.9X and index close, as of July 7th, is $121.64, down from $160.69 in 2019. Using the same methodology, the index ‘EPS’ works out to $154.79 for 2021 (P/E of 20.3X), modestly below the 2019 level ($160.69). The multiples for 2020 and 2021 have been calculated using the index’s total market cap and aggregate bottom-up earnings for each year.

  • Please note that while full-year 2021 earnings for the S&P 500 index are currently expected to be up +27.3% from the 2020 level, the absolute dollar amount of 2021 earnings estimates remain below the 2019 level.

  • For the small-cap S&P 600 index, total Q2 earnings are projected to be down -87.8% from the same period last year on -16.8% lower revenues. This would follow an earnings decline of -72.6% in Q1 on -5.7% lower revenues.

  • For full-year 2020, S&P 600 earnings are expected to be down -46.8% from the same period last year on +0.7% higher revenues, which would follow -5.7% earnings decline in 2019 on +4.2% higher revenues.

The earnings hit suffered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic will likely be durable, with overall earnings for the S&P 500 index expected to remain below pre-pandemic levels even in 2021. This is particularly so for sectors like Energy, Transportation, Consumer Discretionary, Industrial Products and even Finance expected to earn less in 2021 than they did in 2019.

The Covid-19 earnings impact is not uniformly distributed across all sectors, with Technology and Medical expected to perform reasonably well. The earnings declines for the Technology and Medical sectors this year are very modest and these sectors are expected to recoup those declines very quickly. As a result, 2021 earnings for the Tech and Medical sectors are expected to be up +8.9% and +12.9% over the 2019 levels, respectively.

No doubt, stocks in these spaces have been standout performers in the market’s rebound from the March 23rd lows. The strong performance from some of the largest Technology companies during the pandemic is an acknowledgement of these companies’ earnings power.

Five S&P 500 companies - Amazon AMZN, Alphabet GOOGL, Microsoft MSFT, Facebook FB and Apple AAPL – now account for 23.1% of the index’s total market capitalization. This is significantly above these companies’ earnings contribution to the index’s total, expected to be 14.5% of the total this year. But this earnings contribution is up from 11.9% in 2019.

Some will legitimately interpret this disparity as a valuation question, but the fact remains that these large technology companies have proven their ability to profitably grow during these uncertain times, a feat that few others can match.

Unlike the level of earnings, the rate of change on a year-over-year basis will turn positive next year in a major way.

The recent flow of economic readings has broadly been positive, suggesting that the hoped-for recovery is firmly in place. The worry is that the ongoing rebound in infections will derail the momentum.

We will see if these expectations pan out.

5 Stocks to Soar Past the Pandemic: In addition to the companies you learned about above, we invite you to learn about 5 cutting-edge stocks that could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for “stay at home” technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of the decade.

See the 5 high-tech stocks now>>

Follow us on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com

https://www.zacks.com

Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Facebook, Inc. (FB) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.