Earnings Central: It's All About The Outlook

Tuesday:

Tuesday brings reports from two more Dow components, AT&T and DuPont.

Investors are curious to see how much of a benefit AT&T is seeing from being the exclusive carrier of Applie’s iPhone. This will be its first full quarter of results with the sought-after cell phone. Analysts polled by Thomson expect, on average, earnings of 71 cents a share and revenue of $30.1 billion. That’s sharply higher than its results a year ago.

DuPont has had several headwinds to struggle with this year. Among them: soaring oil prices, market share losses in its corn-seed business, and slumping housing and automotive sectors. The Wilmington, Del., company is expected to see its earnings rise to 52 cents a share on revenue of $6.73 billion, Thomson said.

Earnings from UPS, the largest shipping carrier, and UAL, the parent of United Airlines, are also among those reports investors will be looking at to gain insight on the health of the consumer and the economy.

UPS is expected to see its earnings rise to $1.02 a share on revenue of $12.21 billion, Thomson said.

Meanwhile, analysts estimate UAL will earn $1.88 a share on revenue of $5.36 billion, Thomson said. That’s higher than a year ago.

After the bell, investors will be looking to see if Amazon.com can do it again. In the second quarter, the company raised its outlook for the year. This time around, the company is expected to post profit of 18 cents a share, compared with earnings of 5 ents a share, a year ago, Thomson said. Revenue is estimated to rise to $3.14 billion from $2.31 billion last year. Sales are expected to have seen a boost from the July release of the latest Harry Potter novel, which is the last in that popular series.

Wednesday:

Boeing, ConocoPhilips, GlaxoSmithKline, Merrill Lynch, Genzyme, Anheuser-Busch, Pulte Homes, and Symantec are among the many names on the calendar Wednesday.

Dow component Boeing disappointed investors last week by reporting a six-month setback in the timetable for its 787 Dreamliner due to assembly problems. Hopefully, the news will be better when it reports its earnings. Analysts are expecting earnings to rise to $1.24 a share on revenue of $16 billion, Thomson said.

Merrill Lynch results will be watched closely. The company is among several financial firms that have already disclosed huge writedowns tied to the recent credit crunch. Merrill estimates its loss for the quarter will be $450 million, or 45 cents a share. Last year, the company reported net income of $3.17 a share. On average, analysts polled by Thomson expect $3.25 billion in revenue, down from $7.93 billion a year ago.

ConocoPhilips will offer investors an early glimpse at how the major oil companies are faring. Although oil prices have hit record highs in recent trading sessions, profits from the group are expected to be lower due to tight refining margins and lower natural gas prices.

According to Thomson, ConocoPhilips earnings are expected to fall to $2.19 on revenue of $71.35 billion.

CONTINUED : Ford, Motorola, and Microsoft

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