Leading Indicators Data in Focus

Economic & Earnings CommentaryAhead of today’s regular stock market trading session, pre-market futures are picking up where they left off Tuesday afternoon: higher. Continued optimism for a pro-growth Trump administration are sending major indexes to loftier reaches: the Dow is currently +145 points (+0.33%), the S&P 500 is +34 (+0.56%) and the Nasdaq +219 points (+1.01%). The small-cap Russell 2000 is slightly lower today (-0.14%) after leading the indexes yesterday.As we’ve mentioned earlier this week in this space, we are light on economic prints in this holiday-shortened week. Last week brought us all-important CPI, PPI, Retail Sales and Housing Starts data, while next month concludes with two potentially impactful reports: Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) and a new interest rate meeting from the Fed, both on Friday. This week, we’ll see U.S. Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) after today’s opening bell, but nothing else on the economic-report agenda.Q4 Earnings Roundup: JNJ, PG, ALLY & MoreIt is, however, an important week for calendar Q4 earnings results, including a Netflix NFLX report Tuesday afternoon that was its most positive in recent memory. This morning, if it’s in your bathroom cabinet, its company is probably reporting earnings this morning.Johnson & Johnson JNJ shares are down slightly in today’s pre-market, after beating estimates slightly on both top and bottom lines for Q4 this morning: earnings of $2.04 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus by 4 cents, while revenues for the quarter reached $22.52 billion — for a modest +0.06% increase over estimates. But revenue guidance is coming in a bit light, sending the stock to give back the +2.44% it has earned year to date.Procter & Gamble PG also put up a modest beat on its bottom line — for fiscal Q2, in its case — to $1.88 per share from $1.86 expected, on revenues of $21.88 billion, which outperformed the Zacks consensus by +1.33%. Demand for household goods is reportedly up; the stock is well off its early December all-time high, but still +3.3% in today’s pre-market.Ally Financial ALLY shares are up +10% ahead of today’s open, as its Q4 report this morning easily surpassed expectations on its bottom line: 78 cents per share versus 59 cents projected. Revenues of $2.1 billion beat the Zacks consensus of $2.07 billion. The bank boasted a +95% customer retention rate in the quarter, adding to its +6% gains made, year to date.Fiber-optics major Amphenol APH posted solid beats on both top and bottom lines this morning, as Q4 earnings of 55 cents per share surpassed estimates by a solid nickel, and revenues of $4.32 billion swept past the $4.03 billion in the Zacks consensus, and was up +29.8% year over year. Shares are doubling their +4.9% gains year to date on the earnings news this morning for the Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)-rated stock.Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.This top pick is among the most innovative financial firms. With a fast-growing customer base (already 50+ million) and a diverse set of cutting edge solutions, this stock is poised for big gains. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): Free Stock Analysis Report Netflix, Inc. (NFLX): Free Stock Analysis Report Procter & Gamble Company (The) (PG): Free Stock Analysis Report Amphenol Corporation (APH): Free Stock Analysis Report Ally Financial Inc. (ALLY): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks