Sticky things and picky investing will rule the week that lies ahead. Let's take a closer look.
Monday
If you notice a change in the air, don't fumble for an overcoat. It's just earnings season blowing in again. A lot of prolific companies will be putting up their quarterly financials, and even the usually sleepy Monday will be a busy date at the podium. At least that's what this Post-it Note says -- the product's creator, 3M (NYSE:MMM), opens up the week with its first-quarter numbers.
The market is looking for the maker of adhesives, scouring products, and fabric-protection items to earn $1.01 a share for the period. If so, it would be the first time the company posted better than a buck since, well, since its last stock split two years ago. Though the company's steady results may not get your growth-stock juices flowing, keep in mind that 3M's stock has quadrupled over the past 15 years.
Tuesday
If it's Tuesday, it must be time for Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) to release its quarterly report. Yes, it's time for everyone to be reintroduced to the lucrative ways of paid search. Thanks to the popularity of relevant text ads, not to mention the company's timely acquisition of Overture a couple of years ago, the Web giant's growth and margins have been impressive.
Yahoo! has also been busy in recent weeks. It has announced the rollout of free hosting for small businesses, the acquisition of popular photo-sharing site Flickr, greater storage in its popular free email accounts, and even a more focused commitment to digital music. How do all of these pieces fit together? Rather seamlessly, actually. No offense to 3M, but it's all about the stickiness these days. Yahoo! is building up -- and beefing up -- a collection of online properties that will help it grow its reach and, ideally, serve up even more contextual ad blocks.
Try to give up blinking for the day if you can, because you won't want to miss other meaty reports from blue chips like Coke (NYSE:KO) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), two popular investments that always find a way to stand out in a crowd.
Wednesday
Looking for another significant report? Try eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) on for size. The superstar of online auction marketplaces will report on what is bound to be an intriguing quarter. After all, this was the same reporting period in which the company raised some of its fees in January only to scale some of those increases back a month later. That was the first time eBay showed the vulnerability of a company willing to retreat. Yes, the same eBay that seemed to have territorial rights to the most compelling of moats has seen its stock shed more than 40% of its value so far this year. It will owe its shareholders an explanation.
Thursday
Last year's most popular debutante is back for another dance. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has done nothing but surpass its quarterly targets since going public last summer. The stock price reflects that growth -- it has more than doubled from its $85 IPO.
Ad sales make up 98% of Google's revenue, and that's troubling to folks who would like to see the company play with more than one egg in its basket. Still, you can't argue with the results. Will the company give investors something to argue about on Thursday? We'll see. The company has a history, albeit brief, of silencing its critics with numbers that dazzle.
Friday
Moving into digital photography may be an incremental move for Yahoo!, but for Kodak (NYSE:EK), it means everything these days. Sure, the company has its medical imaging products to rely on, but we continue to see Kodak follow consumers as they migrate from traditional photography to the digital platform.
Kodak will probably never see the same kind of profitability in digital snapshots that it enjoyed with traditional shutterbug photography. With digital, there are no film sales, and photofinishing can often be done at home. Even so, Kodak seems to get it. It is determined to shed its dinosaur skin so it can still matter tomorrow. The company closes out the week with its first-quarter showing. Let's see what develops.
Want to learn more about the companies waiting to report earnings this week? Check out:
- 3M Looks Mmm-Mmm Good
- Digital Photography's New Snapshot
- It's Not Me, It's You
- Google's Potentially Fatal Flaw
- Kodak's Digital Struggle
Until next week, I remain,
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz can't tell your Eastman from your Kodak, but he still has a soft spot for eBay. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.
