What to watch for when 9 Club holdings report earnings on Thursday

Published Mon, Jan 30 20233:23 PM EST

Kevin Stankiewicz @in/kevin-stankiewicz-b5593466 @kevin_stank

Earnings season for the Club will hit a fever pitch Thursday, when nine — yes, nine — companies in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust report quarterly results. The jam-packed earnings day features the likes of industrial conglomerate Honeywell International (HON) and tech giants Apple (AAPL) and Alphabet (GOOGL). Stocks have gotten off to a strong year, led by some of last year's worst-performing sectors like communication services. But investors are looking to corporate earnings for clues on the health of the U.S. economy, at a time when fears of a potential recession loom over Wall Street. So far, earnings season has been mixed — we've seen some strong results from Club holdings Morgan Stanley (MS) and Halliburton (HAL). Procter & Gamble (PG) reported more subdued earnings . And Microsoft (MSFT) slightly beat Wall Street forecasts, but issued disappointing forward guidance . Here's our breakdown of Thursday's teeming schedule. Analysts' estimates for earnings-per-share (EPS) and revenue were compiled by Refinitiv. Before the bell: Estee Lauder, Eli Lilly and Honeywell EL 1Y mountain Estee Lauder's 12-month stock performance. Projected revenue: $4.58 billion Projected EPS: $1.30 Conference call at 9:30 a.m. ET Estee Lauder (EL) is one of the Club's favorite ways to play China's economic reopening after three years of Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions. The beauty firm is set to release fiscal second-quarter 2023 results for the three months ended Dec. 31, meaning a large chunk of the quarter took place before Beijing's full-scale Covid relaxation took place . That's why we're willing to look past the quarter and focus more on what management has to say about trends in China, which accounts for more than a third of Estee Lauder's total sales. We reinitiated a position in the cosmetics giant in late September . LLY 1Y mountain Eli Lilly's 12-month stock performance. Projected revenue: $7.33 billion Projected EPS: $1.81 Conference call at 10 a.m. ET Shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) have struggled so far in 2023, due in part to a sector rotation away from health care. However, because our belief in the pharmaceuticals giant is rooted in its long-term growth potential, we generally see the stock's recent weakness as a buying opportunity. Key lines to watch when Eli Lilly reports fourth-quarter results Thursday are sales of Mounjaro, the company's new type-2 diabetes drug , and Trulicity, its older type-2 diabetes drug. So far, sales of Trulicity have held up well, despite Mounjaro's launch, but we'll be looking to see if signs of sales cannibalization emerge. Additionally, we'll see if management has any updates on the timeline on Mounjaro's potential approval to treat obesity , which would dramatically expand its market reach. However, given that Eli Lilly already provided its financial outlook for 2023, we're not expecting too much variance there. HON 1Y mountain Honeywell's 12-month stock performance. Projected revenue: $9.26 billion Projected EPS: $2.51 Conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET While investors generally shy away from industrial stocks when they're worried about the economy, Honeywell (HON) has exposure to strong end markets like aerospace and energy through its UOP division. We'll be looking for indications on whether that strength is still present when it reports fourth-quarter results. It's also worth noting that CEO Darius Adamczyk has maintained a relatively upbeat outlook on the economy in 2023. Investors should buy shares of Honeywell on a pullback instead of right here. After the bell: Apple, Ford, Alphabet, Qualcomm, Starbucks and Amazon AAPL 1Y mountain Apple's 12-month stock performance. Projected revenue: $121.19 billion Projected EPS: $1.94 Conference call at 5 p.m. ET Apple 's (AAPL) fiscal first-quarter results for 2023 should answer a question that's been on investors' minds for months: How did production at a key assembly plant in China impact iPhone shipments , sales and earnings in its all-important holiday quarter? Analysts have been lowering their estimates to reflect the likely hit, so expectations appear to be realistic. We'll also be looking for any commentary from management on foreign exchange. The strong U.S. dollar in 2022 was a big drag on the company due to its large international presence. But the dollar peaked in late September and is down more than 10% since then. F 1Y mountain Ford Motor's 12-month stock performance. Projected revenue: $40.37 billion Projected EPS: 62 cents Conference call at 5 p.m. ET Ford Motor 's (F) fourth-quarter release will be the last of its kind. Beginning with its first-quarter results for this year, Ford will report specific results for its electric-vehicle division (Ford e), traditional internal combustion engine unit (Ford Blue) and its commercial segment (Ford Pro). It's an important step to give investors more transparency around Ford's multibillion dollar EV transformation plan, which is the basis of the Club's long-term investment case in the automaker. Ford's 2023 guidance, issued alongside its fourth-quarter report, will offer clues about how management expects a number of headwinds — including the impact of higher interest rates on vehicle affordability — to impact its business this year. Additionally, we expect Ford's decision to cut prices on its electric Mustang Mach-E crossover , while increasing production, to be a topic of conversation on Thursday's earnings call. GOOGL 1Y mountain Alphabet's 12-month stock performance. Projected revenue: $75.69 billion Projected EPS: $1.18 Conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET An uncertain economic picture has put a damper on the digital advertising market , which Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) relies on for the bulk of its revenue. It's played a big role in decelerating topline growth in the second and third quarters, and that's expected to be the case again in the fourth. Analysts' consensus revenue estimate would translate into roughly 1% year-over-year revenue growth for the preiod ended Dec. 31, compared with 13% and 6% in Q2 and Q3, respectively. Despite lingering concerns about the digital ad market, Alphabet shares have climbed more than 12% so far in 2023, part of a broader recovery in beaten-up tech stocks. Alphabet shares tumbled 39% in 2022. We'll be looking for additional clues Thursday that show Alphabet management is serious about controlling expenses in the face of slower revenue growth. The company earlier this month announced it was laying off 12,000 employees , or about 6% of its global workforce. However, more job cuts could be in order at the company, which hired aggressively during much of the Covid-19 pandemic. Reductions in capital expenditures would also help protect margins. QCOM 1Y mountain Qualcomm's 12-month stock performance. Projected revenue: $9.6 billion Projected EPS: $2.35 Conference call at 4:45 p.m. ET The guidance Qualcomm (QCOM) issues alongside its first-quarter 2023 earnings Thursday is likely to receive a lot of attention, offering clues on when the company expects the smartphone chip inventory glut to materially improve. That oversupply — created by weaker smartphone demand and easing supply chain constraints — caused Qualcomm to issue dismal first-quarter guidance back in November . Analysts have factored management's weak projections into their estimates, meaning the bar for the actual results is much lower than it was a few months ago. However, expectations vary on when smartphone market headwinds will shift to tailwinds, so any relevant commentary from management would be of note. While Qualcomm is working on diversifying into areas like automotive, smartphones still account for most of the company's product revenue. SBUX 1Y mountain Starbucks' 12-month stock performance. Projected revenue: $8.77 billion Projected EPS: 77 cents Conference call at 5 p.m. In the U.S., investors will be focused on whether Starbucks ' (SBUX) same-store sales growth in the company's biggest market can remain resilient, despite concerns about an economic slowdown. When the coffee maker reports fiscal first-quarter results for 2023 on Thursday, we also expect management's commentary on consumer trends to prove insightful. In China, Starbucks' second-largest market and a key focus of long-term expansion , investors are looking at the cadence of the company's business recovery now that Beijing has ended its so-called zero-Covid policy. China's reopening has boosted investor sentiment for stocks like Starbucks , even if there's some uncertainty over when it will reach an inflection point and provide a lift to operating margins. AMZN 1Y mountain Amazon's 12-month stock performance. Projected revenue: $145.45 billion Projected EPS: 17 cents Conference call at 5:30 p.m. ET Amazon (AMZN) shares have climbed roughly 20% to start the year, following a brutal 2022 in which the tech giant lost nearly 50% of its market value. Despite the stock's strong start to 2023, some uncertainties linger over Amazon's slowing fundamental business. Thursday's fourth-quarter report should shine a light on those potential challenges. Analysts are trying to gauge the impact of economic uncertainty and slowing retail sales on Amazon's core e-commerce business. Some relative weakness in the December quarter is expected. On the cloud-computing side, there also are concerns about slowing growth for Amazon Web Services as enterprise customers tighten their belts . At the same time, analysts believe those near-term topline pressures should be partially offset by Amazon's recent job cuts , which are expected to help the company's bottom line in the coming quarters. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long EL, LLY, HON, AAPL, F, GOOGL, QCOM, SBUX and AMZN . See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

iPhone 14 phones on display inside an Apple store in Marunouchi, Tokyo.

Stanislav Kogiku | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Earnings season for the Club will hit a fever pitch Thursday, when nine — yes, nine — companies in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust report quarterly results.