This is going to be a busy month for investors. Earlier this week, I went over a few dates that investors will want to keep an eye on for game-changing news.
The headlines won't end there, of course. There are plenty of other companies that are expected to make a lot of waves in July. Let's go over some more of the days that could move the market.
Image source: Frontier Communications.
July 10
Reverse splits rarely work out for companies, and we'll find out on Monday when a 1-for-15 transaction goes into play for Frontier Communications (FTR). The regional telco has hit hard times with losses mounting as sequential declines for revenue and customers continue.
Frontier Communications has seen its stock fall to nearly a buck, and while Monday's split will artificially lift the shares into the mid-teens, it will be interesting to see if the stock continues to fall after that transaction as many stocks do in the weeks following a reverse transaction. The one thing that may save Frontier Communications is its fat dividend. The stock is presently yielding 14.5%, seemingly providing a floor after the split. Unfortunately for income investors, Frontier Communications has a history of slashing its payouts. It cut it rate by more than half earlier this year.
The reverse split will go into effect at Monday's market open. Investors may want to wait and see where the stock settles before placing opportunistic buy orders. Frontier Communications has always been volatile, and that will likely be the case next week.
July 26
Baidu (BIDU -0.56%) has yet to announce a date for its next quarterly report, but it has typically stepped up during the last week of July. The dot-com darling behind China's leading search engine has seen its growth slow to a crawl over the past year. Regulators stepped in last May when someone died after seeking treatment at an iffy cancer center found through a Baidu search query.
Chinese search engines have been required to scale back on how they present health-related ads, once a high-margin niche for internet companies in the world's most populous nation. Bringing up this unfortunate event is important as we approach this month's report, because it will cover the last quarter -- a partial quarter -- of Baidu operating under these stricter requirements. Baidu's outlook will be critical, as we'll finally get to compare year-over-year growth on an apples-to-apples basis. Analysts see revenue growth of 14% for the second quarter and 26% for the new quarter, making this Baidu's most important financial update in more than a year.
July 27
Twitter (TWTR) will be hoping that it gives investors something to tweet about when it reports fresh financials on the morning of July 27. The social media giant is no longer in Mr. Market's doghouse, though its fundamentals remain a mixed bag.
Engagement is improving, as Twitter's growth rate for daily active users has been accelerating over the past year. Monetization has been the bigger challenge, as revenue has failed to keep pace with its audience gains. Twitter's second-quarter report should be a mixed bag, but investors could be comforted if they hear that some of its recent advertising and content deals are starting to show signs of life.
