Earnings Preview: McDonald’s Corporation (MCD), Apple Inc (AAPL), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN), Caterpillar Inc (CAT)

The fourth-quarter 2015 earnings season, which kicked off earlier this month, is now in full swing. Next week will see a raft of big-name U.S. companies not only reporting how they fared in the last three months of 2015, but also offering crucial guidance on their expectations moving into 2016 amid one of the most volatile starts to a year on record.

Next week, 134 of the S&P's 504 listed companies will report earnings, including tech majors Apple and Microsoft, consumer products makers Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble Co., heavy industry player Caterpillar Inc., and U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co.

“Next week is certainly important,” said Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank. “We’ll get more data from a broad array of industries that will offer a tremendous amount of information about corporate earnings. Expectations have been brought down over the last three months, and we could see a third consecutive quarter of earnings contraction.”

Expectations are low. China’s slowdown, a battered global commodities market, rising economic distress in emerging markets, a sluggish European economy and a strong U.S. dollar that eats into sales in foreign currencies will continue to pose considerable challenges moving into 2016. Already the S&P 500 has lost 8 percent since the start of the year amid a global sell-off in stocks as investors navigate numerous uncertainties.

Earnings growth for S&P companies is expected to decline by nearly 6 percent, with advances only in telecommunications and consumer discretionary stocks, S&P Capital IQ said.

Companies involved in energy and manufacturing material will see a drop in earnings-per-share growth compared to the last three months of 2014, while growth in consumer staples and information technology are expected to drop by as much as 4 percent, S&P Capital IQ said. Industrials, such as the makers of aircraft and machinery, and financial service providers will come close to breaking even compared to the end of 2014.

Only consumer discretionary stocks, such as automakers and media companies, healthcare and telecommunications are expected to outpace the previous year’s earnings.

This week will see earnings reports from some major companies, including Apple, Ford Motor, McDonald’s and a slew of defense contractors. Here’s a rundown of select companies earnings for the October-to-December period due out next week. The following estimates come from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Stock price movements are based on Thursday readings.

Monday Before Markets Open

McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:MCD) is expected to report unadjusted earnings per share of $1.23 on $1.14 billion in profit, up from $1.13 on $1.1 billion in profit in the same period last year. But fourth-quarter revenue for the world’s largest restaurant chain is expected to drop to $6.22 billion from $6.57 billion in the year-ago period. McDonald’s is trading around $117 per share. The company’s stock is up about 28 percent for the past 12 months, but down 0.2 percent since the start of the year. (Update: Click here for earnings results.)

Analysts expect Kimberly Clark Corp. (NYSE:KMB) to report unadjusted earnings per share of $1.42 on $516.5 million in profits, swinging from a losses of 22 cents per share and $82 million in the same fourth quarter of 2014. But revenue will drop to $4.58 billion from $4.83 billion in the year-ago period. The maker of Scott paper towels and Kleenex tissues is trading around $125 per share. The company’s stock is up about 6 percent over the past 12 months but down about 2 percent for the year. (Update: Click here for earnings results.)

Tuesday Before Markets Open

E I Du Pont De Nemours and Co. (NYSE:DD), better known as DuPont, is expected to report unadjusted fourth quarter earnings per share of 32 cents on $312.6 million, down from 74 cents on $683 million. Revenue for the manufacturer of advanced materials, like industrial water filters, is seen dropping to $5.53 billion from $7.38 billion. DuPont is trading around $53 per share. Its stock is down 21 percent over the past 12 months and down 21 percent since the start of the year. (Update: Click here for earnings results.)

Analysts see Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG) reporting in its fiscal second quarter ended December unadjusted earnings per share of 99 cents on $2.82 billion in profit, up from 82 cents on $2.37 billion in profit in the same quarter the previous year. The maker of Tide laundry detergent and Pampers diapers is trading around $76 per share. Its stock is down 16 percent in the past 12 months and down 4 percent so far this year. (Update: Click here for earnings results.)

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is expected to report unadjusted earnings per share of $1.31 on profit of $3.85 billion, up from 89 cents per share on $2.52 billion in profit. The maker of consumer healthcare products and medical devices is seen posting lower revenue of $17.88 billion, down from $18.25 billion in the year-ago quarter. Company shares are trading around $96 and are down 6 percent for the past 12 months and down 7 percent since the start of the year. (Update: Click here for earnings results.)

Tuesday After Markets Close

Tech darling Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is seen reporting fiscal first-quarter unadjusted earnings per share of $3.23 on profit of $18.22 billion, up from $3.06 on $18.02 billion in profit. Revenue for the maker of iPhones and Macbooks is expected to grow to $76.67 billion from $74.60 billion. The company’s shares are trading at $96 and are down 12 percent for the past 21 months and down 9 percent for the year. (Update: Click here for earnings results.)

Wednesday Before Markets Open

Health insurer Anthem Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) is expected to post $1.07 in unadjusted earnings per share on $300.3 million in profit, up from $1.80 on profit of $506.7 million. Revenue is seen growing to $19.9 billion, from $18.78 billion in the year-ago quarter. Premiums are forecast to grow to $18.45 billion from $17.58 billion. Anthem shares are trading around $139 and have gained about 2 percent in value in the past 12 months. The shares have dropped about a half percent since the start of the year. (Update: Click here for earnings results.)

Aerospace company Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) is expected to report unadjusted earnings per share of $2.04 on $1.42 billion in profit, up from $2.02 on profit of $1.47 billion. Revenue is expected to drop to $23.59 billion from $24.47 billion compared to the last three months of 2014. Boeing shares are trading around $123 per share and have lost about 7 percent of their value in the past 12 months. They’re down 15 percent since the start of the year. (Update: Click here for earnings results.)

Wednesday After Markets Close

Social-networking provider Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is expected to report unadjusted earnings per share of 41 cents on profit of $1.19 billion, up from 25 cents per share on $701 million in profit. Revenue is seen growing to $5.36 billion from $3.85 billion. Facebook shares are trading around $94 per share and are up 23 percent over the past 12 months. Its stock is down 10 percent for the year. (Update: Click here for earnings results.)

Thursday Before Markets Open

Heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is expected to report unadjusted earnings per share of 30 cents on $166.7 million in profit, down from $1.30 on profit of $757. Revenue is expected to drop to $11.44 billion from $14.24 billion. Caterpillar shares are trading around $54 and are down 26 percent over the past 12 months. Its stock is down about 13 percent for the year.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) is forecast to report unadjusted earnings per share of 48 cents on $1.88 billion in profit, up from 1 cent on profit of $52 million. Revenue is expected to grow to $36.32 billion, up from $33.8 billion. Ford shares are trading around $54, down about 20 percent in the past 12 months and down 15 percent since the start of the year.

Chinese online retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA) is expected to report $4.07 in unadjusted earnings per share on $11.17 billion in profit in its fiscal third quarter ended December, up from $2.27 per share on $5.88 billion in profit. Revenue is expected to rise to $32.96 billion from $25.94 billion from the year-ago quarter. Alibaba shares are trading around $71 and are down 32 percent over the past 12 months. Its shares are down 13 percent for the year so far.

Thursday After Markets Close

Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is forecast to report unadjusted earnings per share of $1.56 on $742.8 million in profit, up from 45 cents on profit of $214 million. Revenue is expected to grow to $35.98 billion from $29.33 billion. Amazon shares are trading around $579, up about 95 percent in the past 12 months and down 13 percent so far this year.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is forecast to report in its fiscal second quarter ended December unadjusted earnings per share of 67 cents on $5.26 billion in profit, down from 71 cents on profit of $5.86 billion. Revenue is expected to drop to $25.26 billion from $26.47 billion in the same quarter the previous year. Microsoft shares are trading around $54, up around 10 percent for the past 12 months, but down 7 percent for the year.

Friday Before Markets Open

Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) is forecast to report unadjusted earnings per share of 71 cents on $630.6 million in profit, up from 68 cents per share on profit of $628 million. Revenue is expected to drop to $3.93 billion from $4.22 billion in the October-December quarter of the previous year. Shares in the consumer products maker are trading around $63. They’re down 8 percent over the past 12 months and down 5 percent since the start of the year.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) is expected to report unadjusted earnings per share of $2.88 on $1.26 billion in profit, up from 82 cents per share on profit of $597 million. Revenue is forecast to drop to $9.65 billion, from $10.16 billion in the same quarter of 2014. American Airlines shares are trading around $40 and are down 26 percent over the past 12 months. They down 7 percent for the year.