There's never a dull week on Wall Street. Let's go over some of the news that will shape the week to come.
Monday
The new trading week kicks off with Netflix (NFLX 1.74%) reporting. Netflix has been one of the hottest stocks this year, and it will take a great report on Monday afternoon to keep the good times going. Naysayers figured Netflix was doomed when it decided to target consumers willing to pay $7.99 a month for unlimited streams over its lucrative multi-DVD plans. Average revenue per subscriber began to shrink, but Netflix has made up the difference in volume. Analysts see revenue climbing 22% higher in its latest quarter.
Streaming and international expansion used to be costly to Netflix's bottom line, but Wall Street sees a dramatic improvement in margins this time around, with profitability more than tripling in the period. Investors will want to make sure Netflix's subscriber count keeps moving in the right direction, too.
Tuesday
Apple (AAPL 0.52%) rolled out new iPhones last month, and on Tuesday it will be time to update many of its other product lines. The consumer-tech giant will host a media event in California on Tuesday, and it's widely assumed that we'll be getting new iPads and probably some new computers. Both of these categories saw sales fall in Apple's previous quarter, so the market will be looking for any signs that the refreshed products could wrestle back market share.
Wednesday
Fusion-io (FIO.DL) steps up on Wednesday morning with its latest quarterly results. Wall Street isn't holding out for much when it comes to the enterprise-data storage specialist. They see a deficit -- reversing a modest profit a year earlier -- on a sharp decline in revenue.
Fusion-io was a market darling when it went public two years ago. The IPO priced at $19, and within months it had more than doubled. Things haven't panned out the way growth investors would have liked. The stock has since fallen back down to the teens.
Thursday
Candy Crush Saga is the hot mobile game, and that's getting investors excited about King's upcoming IPO. However, before the London-based King ruled the roost, it was Zynga (ZNGA) that tantalized investors.
Like Fusion-io, Zynga's another busted IPO. Zynga's been stuck in the single digits as it fails to post the kind of growth that the market was forecasting for the company behind FarmVille and Words With Friends.
With mobile usage exploding, one would think Zynga would still be able to carve out a cozy living with its social and casual diversions. That's not happening. Just like Fusion-io, the market's braced for a quarterly loss on Thursday, with a huge plunge in revenue.
Friday
The market is typically quiet on Friday, but that won't stop Procter & Gamble (PG -0.03%) from reporting. The consumer-products conglomerate behind Pampers baby diapers, Bounty paper towels, Crest toothpaste tubes, and many more supermarket staples will report on Friday morning. Wall Street's eyeing flat earnings on meager top-line growth. That will probably come as a relief after Fusion-io and Zynga. Procter & Gamble can justify the slow growth with its healthy 3.1% yield.
