Earnings season heats up this week with about 310 companies expected to report.
They represent a diversity of industries, including retail, tech, social media, banks, industrials and home builders.
What will they tell us about what is going on in the US economy?
Is the recovery from the pandemic still on track?
First of the FAANGs to Report Earnings
This week, Netflix will be the first of the FAANG stocks to report earnings.
It’s no longer the most expensive of the FAANGs, with a forward P/E of 55. That title now belongs to Amazon, with a forward P/E of 68.
But shares of Netflix are still treading water as they have been the last few months.
Other FAANG stocks have similar charts.
Will this be the quarter that the 5 big-cap FAANG darlings again take the leadership reins in the stock market?
The Best of the FAANG Earnings Charts
1.
Facebook
FB
has had regulatory issues for months but the Street has shrugged them off, pushing the shares to new all-time highs in 2021. It has beat 3 quarters in a row and remains the “cheapest” of the FAANG stocks, on a forward P/E basis, at 26.9x. Is the breakout for real?
2.
Apple
AAPL
has an outstanding earnings surprise track record. It hasn’t missed in nearly 5 years, since early 2016. Impressive. But shares have been weak in 2021, up just 1.1% year-to-date, which is underperforming the S&P 500 which has gained about 11%. Nevertheless, shares are still trading near their 5-year highs. Is Apple positioned to surprise the Street yet again?
3.
Amazon
AMZN
has posted 3 huge earnings beats in a row but the shares remain stuck in a narrow trading range. They’ve added just 4.4% in 2021 after a blistering rally during the early months of the pandemic in 2020. Has all the good news already been priced in?
4.
Netflix
NFLX
has missed 4 quarters in a row, a rare mis-step by the company which only had 2 misses in 2017 in the years just prior to the pandemic. With more competition from the likes of Disney Plus, will these shares remain under pressure?
5.
Alphabet
GOOGL
has beat on earnings 3 quarters in a row. Along with Facebook, it is the only FAANG stock breaking out to new all-time highs in 2021. Year-to-date, the shares have soared 30% compared to the NASDAQ gaining 9%. It’s trading at 33x, which makes it cheaper than both Amazon and Netflix. But is it too hot to handle after this big rally?
[In full disclosure, Tracey owns shares of FB, AMZN and GOOGL in her personal portfolio.]
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