Souring Economic Data Eclipse Peak Earnings Week: Here’s What You May Have Missed

• This marks the last peak week of the Q2 earnings season with 3,908 companies expected to report. 
• Earnings have come in better-than-expected, but tend to be overshadowed by economic data.
• Outlier earnings this week include: CSX, CAT, VFC

Market Whiplash

Last week started out with disappointing results from (NYSE:) and (NASDAQ:), in the middle of the week both Fed commentary which nearly confirmed a September rate cut and outstanding Meta (NASDAQ:) lifted markets, only to be undone on Thursday and Friday by weaker-than-expected data.

Earnings season continues to plod along, with more companies beating EPS estimates than the long-run historical average, yet the amount by which these companies are beating is less than usual. Mega tech results, closely watched for signs of continuing AI demand, came in mixed. 

According to FactSet, the current consensus for EPS growth is for 11.5% YoY, an increase from 9.8% last week. Thus far, 78% of companies that have reported have surpassed analyst profit estimates, while only 59% have beaten on revenues.

The and economic data were also in focus this week. On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell all but confirmed the first rate cut since 2020 would likely occur at the September meeting.

There is also a high probability of rate cuts at the November and December meetings as well according to the CME FedWatch tool. An additional 3 cuts are expected in the first half of 2025. 

Now the question is becoming whether or not the Fed waited too long to cut rates as certain economic indicators show signs of weakening.

On Tuesday, the June report showed that job openings slowed for the month, and both hiring and quit rates decreased.

The cooling jobs data continued on Thursday when came in higher-than-expected for the week prior. It all culminated with a disappointing June jobs report on Friday.

(NFP) of 114,000 were well-below expectations, unemployment ticked up to 4.3%, the highest rate in nearly 3 years, and wage growth grew less-than-anticipated. In response, the , S&P 500 and were all down more than 2%. 

The Final (and Busiest) Peak Week of the Q2 Season is Up

This week concludes the final peak week for the second quarter earnings season with 3,908 companies expected to report from a smattering of industries. Big names include: Caterpillar (NYSE:), Disney (NYSE:), Airbnb (NASDAQ:), Lyft (NASDAQ:), Reddit (NYSE:), Eli Lilly (NYSE:) and more.​

Source: Wall Street Horizon

Outlier Earnings Dates this Week

Academic research shows that when a company confirms a quarterly earnings date that is later than when they have historically reported, it’s typically a sign that the company will share bad news on their upcoming call, while moving a release date earlier suggests the opposite.

This week we get results from a number of large companies on major indexes that have pushed their Q2 2024 earnings dates outside of their historical norms. Fifteen companies within the S&P 500 confirmed outlier earnings dates for this week, all of which are later than usual and therefore have negative DateBreaks Factors*.

Those names are Williams Companies (NYSE:), CSX Corp. (NASDAQ:), IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ:), DaVita Inc. (NYSE:), Molson Coors Beverage Company (NYSE:), Baxter International (NYSE:), MarketAxess Holdings (NASDAQ:), Caterpillar, Hilton Worldwide Holdings (NYSE:), NiSource Inc (NYSE:), Global Payments, Inc. (NYSE:), Rockwell Automation Inc (NYSE:), Parker Hannifin Corporation (NYSE:), Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:) and Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:). 

CSX Corp. (CSX)
Company Confirmed Report Date: Monday August 5, AMC
Projected Report Date (based on historical data): Thursday July 18, AMC
DateBreaks Factor: -2*

* Wall Street Horizon DateBreaks Factor: statistical measurement of how an earnings date (confirmed or revised) compares to the reporting company’s 5-year trend for the same quarter. Negative means the earnings date is confirmed to be later than historical average while Positive is earlier.

CSX is set to report Q2 2024 results on Monday, August 5, over two weeks later than usual, and the first time they’ve ever reported Q2 in the month of August. This also appears to be their first Monday report in at least the last decade, as they usually favor a Tuesday or Wednesday report date. 

On March 26, a massive container ship crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge causing it to collapse and closing the port for the majority of Q2. Baltimore is the second largest coal export port, and CSX has a major coal shipping segment which was negatively impacted by the closing of the port.

In the quarters prior to this disaster, CSX and its peers have been dealing with a global freight recession, which experts believe has bottomed, but freight rates will likely remain low in 2025 on the road to recovery.  

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT)
Company Confirmed Report Date: Tuesday August 6, BMO
Projected Report Date (based on historical data): Tuesday, July 30, BMO
DateBreaks Factor: -2*

Caterpillar is set to report Q2 2024 results on Tuesday, August 6, a week later than anticipated. This also pushed results into the 32nd week of the year, while the industrials giant tends to report in the 30th or 31st week of the year. This would be the latest Q2 report ever for CAT. 

Caterpillar tends to serve as a bellwether for global economic health as the world’s leading manufacturer of machinery and construction equipment. Last quarter the company warned that sales were cooling as dealers tightened up on equipment inventories after a multi-month boom in demand.

Investors will be looking for updates on machinery sales which could indicate something broader about the global economy. 

VF Corporation
Company Confirmed Report Date: Tuesday August 6, BMO
Projected Report Date (based on historical data): Tuesday, July 30, BMO
DateBreaks Factor: -2*

VF Corp (NYSE:) is set to report FQ1 2025 results on Tuesday, August 6, a week later than anticipated. Since switching to a fiscal year end of March 31 in 2018, this is the latest they’ve reported Q1 results, and the first time they’ve reported them in the 32nd week of the year. 

On May 22, VFC announced they had tapped Spotify’s Paul Vogel as their new CFO. Vogel took his post on July 8, which could explain the later-than-usual earnings date.

VFC like many other apparel companies has struggled this year to attract consumers that are increasingly more discerning with how they spend their discretionary dollars, especially as many of the brands they own (North Face, Vans, Timberland) tend to be on the middle-higher end. 

Q2 Earnings Wave

This marks the final peak week of Q2 earnings season, with 3,908 companies expected to report. Currently, August 8 is predicted to be the most active day with 1,411 companies anticipated to report. Thus far 80% of companies have confirmed their earnings date (out of our universe of 11,000+ global names), and 37% have reported results.

Source: Wall Street Horizon