Will it be good news or good chews for the companies set to enlighten the market with their quarterly appearances in the coming week?
Monday
Long before Paris Hilton became an overexposed celebrity, Hilton Paris was a hotel -- now one of the more than 2,000 hotels and vacation properties under Hilton Hotels (NYSE:HLT) ownership with lodging names you know such as Hampton Inn, Embassy Suites, and -- naturally -- Hilton. While the travel industry has been choppy over the past few years, with business travel waning and airlines scaling back flights, Hilton has earned its pillow mint turndown service by staying profitable through thick and thin. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.13 a share this morning, an improvement over last year's $0.09 showing. It probably helps to know that the company has met or exceeded Wall Street's profit targets for 11 consecutive quarters. In other words, the "Do Not Disturb" sign does wonders in keeping housekeeping away.
Tuesday
From pillow mint to spearmint, Wrigley (NYSE:WWY) follows with its own quarterly financials to chew on. Yes, this is the time of year in which the company shareholders get giddy over being sent a free box of gum. For the company, catering to jaw-smacking kids, ex-smokers, and just about anyone who enjoys a good stick of gum now and then is big business. While it may feel like just another family business with a fourth-generation Wrigley at the helm, this was a company with just more than $3 billion in sales last year. Talk about your Juicy Fruit!
Wednesday
Now that Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has moved on after its failed bid to acquire Disney earlier this year, what will the cable television giant do next? Well, if it can't go to Disneyland, it might as well create its own Disney. No, there is no Comcastland on the horizon, but the company is already aiming at Disney Channel. When the company reports its third-quarter results on this day, it will likely shed some light on why it will be teaming up with PBS to offer a channel providing round-the-clock programming for preschoolers. So maybe Comcastland -- ripe with cable car rides and the It's a Small World for a Big Cable Bill attraction -- isn't too far away from reality.
Thursday
Will it be an empty tank or a "fill 'er up" kind of quarter for ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM)? With crude oil prices shooting through the sunroof over the summer, it's hard to imagine the petroleum specialist falling short this time around.
Can you hear my earnings now? While probably not as rosy as ExxonMobil's showing, Verizon Communications is also set to announce its September quarter results on Thursday. As a major player in wireless and local service, Verizon is toiling away in the highly competitive telecommunication sector. It's holding its own -- with its stock up by better than 20% over the past year -- but the struggling industry's fundamentals could use a turnaround sooner rather than later. So can you hear Verizon now? It wouldn't hurt if it made things easier by speaking up a little louder.
Friday
What conference call has the greatest likelihood of being interrupted by someone posing as an analyst only to belt out "Ba Ba Booey" during a free cash flow question? Why, it's Clear Channel Communications (NYSE:CCU), of course. The country's leading radio station operator -- and thorn in Howard Stern's side -- will close out the week with its earnings report. And, no, there is no truth to the rumor that if you are listening to the company's conference call while driving around, reception is spotty if you enter a tunnel.
But while radio can be seen as a sector so dynamic that Elvis Costello had to sing it twice, has anyone wondered what will happen to free radio in a couple of years? Sirius (NASDAQ:SIRI) will be a force with the NFL and Stern, while XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ:XMSR) is projecting as many as 20 million subscribers for its digital radio service by 2010. If the migration is significant, how will traditional radio compete? If the ratings dry up and shrivel alongside the ad dollar, it will bring an entirely new meaning to the term shock jock.
Until next week I remain,
Rick Munarriz
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has never run into the 2002 version of himself though he would probably have a few stock tips to share if it ever did happen. He owns shares in Disney but not any of the other companies mentioned in this story.
