Investors will continue to hear earnings results from a number of companies this week including Starbucks (SBUX) and Motorola (MOT), just to name a few. On Wednesday, investors will also get their first peak at how well the economy fared in the first-quarter, when advanced gross domestic product is released.
Baidu.com (BIDU) is due to report first-quarter results after the close on Monday. Analysts expect China’s top Internet search company to report earnings of $0.75 per share, up from $0.60 a year ago, on revenue of $115.2 million. Shares have gained 63% since the beginning of the year as advertising sales start to pick up. On April 17, the company it had seen a significant rise in advertising since late January, as business sentiment improved in the world’s third largest economy
Baidu is one for longs to watch as the stock has shown a strong tendency in the near-term to widen its next-day share move following its post-earnings share performance in the preceding evening session. It’s done so four out of the last four quarters MidnightTrader.com has tracked. Three out of four of those move were to the upside. On February 18, shares rose 0.7% in the after-hours and widened the next day, ending up 3.5%.
Akamai Technologies (AKAM) releases its first-quarter results after the close of trading Wednesday. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $0.40 per share, down from $0.41 a year ago, on revenue of $208.3 million.
AKAM has recorded more aggressive next-day closing levels following 16 of its last 21 after-hours earnings events. In fact, the stock has seen wider next-day moves in 13 of its last 15 earnings periods and in the last four out of five quarters. On February 4, the stock rose 7.4% in after-hours action and widened its move the next regular session, ending up 18.1%.
Stocks managed to close out last week higher after sinking below their November lows on concerns about the weakening economy and increasing unemployment. The financial sector managed to make some positive headway after Citigroup (C) reassured investors that the first two months of 2009 were strong.
Stocks breached their November lows last week and investors will be closely watching to see if they break below their newly set lows. Also this week, the latest readings on gross domestic product and durable goods orders will likely move markets.
