Corporate Profits Set to Shrink for Fourth Consecutive Quarter
With more than 90 of the biggest U.S. companies reporting results this week, investors will get a clearer picture of what is expected to be the fourth straight quarter of declining profits for the group.
Based on analysts’ forecasts for companies in the S&P 500 index, Thomson Reuters predicted that adjusted earnings per share for the second quarter were down 4.7% from a year earlier. That follows a 5% drop in the first quarter.
Revenue, meanwhile, is expected to slip 0.8%, marking the sixth straight quarter of declines, according to Thomson Reuters.
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“We are in a slow weak-growth environment,” said Jonathan Golub, senior equity strategist at RBC Capital Markets, who recently cut his earnings forecast for the S&P 500, saying profits will be slightly lower for the year. “What investors are looking for is confirmation that we are not stuck in negative territory.”
Several factors are weighing on earnings. Collapsing oil prices are taking a toll on energy companies. Low interest rates and a weak merger market are squeezing financial companies, and a saturated phone market is reining in Apple Inc., the biggest earner in the index.
The expected profit decline comes despite a wave of corporate share buybacks, which rose to their second-highest level ever in the first quarter, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. By reducing the number of shares outstanding, buybacks tend to increase earnings per share.
“Clients are struggling to navigate an incredibly difficult investment landscape,” said Gary Shedlin, chief financial officer of asset manager BlackRock Inc.
. Just 7% of the companies in the index have reported their results so far.
Last week, three big financial companies— J.P. Morgan & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc. —posted lower quarterly profit, but executives pointed to underlying strength in the U.S. economy and a still-healthy American consumer.
“Overall trends have been somewhat positive, with oil prices continuing to stabilize and firming sentiment in the sector improving access to capital markets,” J.P. Morgan Chief Executive James Dimon told investors.
This week the attention shifts to industrial giants like General Electric Co. and Honeywell International Inc., technology bellwethers Microsoft Corp. and International Business Machines Corp. , and more consumer-oriented companies such as General Motors Co. and AT&T Inc.
GM’s U.S. market share is shrinking, but broader demand for profitable trucks is helping stabilize earnings industrywide. AT&T continues to reap savings from last year’s acquisition of DirecTV and its focus on retaining customers amid competition in the wireless industry. Both AT&T and GM plan to report results on Thursday.
While U.S. retailers have reported uneven sales this year, investors will get another read on consumer spending when American Express Co. and Visa Inc. unveil their results on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
The quarterly results come as stock markets are hitting records, reflecting poor returns from bonds and other markets, as well as an improved earnings outlook for the rest of the year. Thomson Reuters forecasts 1.5% growth in profits for the third quarter and 9.1% for the year’s final quarter.
The combination of rising stock prices and declining earnings has boosted the overall valuation of stocks to the highest 12 month average price-to-earnings ratio since 2010, according to FactSet.
Among other things, the quarterly results will give executives an opportunity to discuss how the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union will affect their company’s operations and performance
Delta Air Lines Inc. said last week it was reducing flights to the U.K. this winter as a result of the steep drop of the pound and the economic uncertainty in the wake of the vote. Spice maker McCormick & Co., which generated 8% of its sales from the U.K. in 2015, said the drop of the pound, among other currency, moves would erode its earnings this year by about 3%.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. Chief Executive Stefano Pessina said it was too early to tell, but from what he has seen in his stores: “There is very good, there is very bad.”
Meanwhile, there are signs that the U.S. economy, which is growing at around a 2% clip, is improving. Job growth strengthened in June and monthly manufacturing activity, as gauged by the Institute for Supply Management, rose to its highest level in 16 months. Last month, retail sales growth improved after a sluggish May, the Commerce Department said, helped by a 3.9% increase in sales at building-supply stores.
GE, which is slated to report results Friday, has said that orders in the second half would accelerate and make up for weak performance in the year’s first six months. “As we look at the second half of the year, in terms of orders, we see a very strong orders profile in power,” GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said at a conference in May.
—Theo Francis contributed to this article.
Write to Kate Linebaugh at
kate.linebaugh@wsj.com