Q1 Earnings Spigot Opens: JNJ, BAC, UNH & More

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Q1 earnings season gets off to a bang this morning, with major S&P 500 companies reporting Q1 earnings ahead of the bell. This is the first “full week” of Q1 earnings season, though the influx of reports hitting the tape in the next few weeks to come will be even heavier.

Dow component Johnson & Johnson JNJ beat estimates on both its top and bottom lines for Q1, reporting $2.10 per share that outperformed estimates by 7 cents on quarterly revenues that brought in $20.02 billion, better than the $19.63 billion analysts were expecting. The company carried a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) into the earnings report, with a Zacks Style Score (Value, Growth, Momentum) of B.

Pharma sales grew 4% year over year, and the company raised guidance for full-year 2019. Shares are up 6.9% year to date, and are up another 1.2% on the earnings news. For more on JNJ’s earnings, click here.

We also continue to hear from Wall Street’s biggest banks, with Bank of America BAC putting up 70 cents per share which topped the Zacks consensus by 5 cents on $23 billion in revenues (and 8 cents per share year over year), which missed estimates by roughly 1%. Beating on the bottom line is nothing new for BofA — the last time the bank missed on earnings was Q1 2016.

Consumer lending was strong for BofA in the quarter. The stock, which had brought a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) into the earnings report, and was up 21% year-to-date, is selling off 1.7% in today’s pre-market. For more on BAC’s earnings, click here.

BlackRock BLK also posted better-than-expected earnings numbers: $6.61 per share versus $6.20 expected, with revenues of $3.35 billion that technically missed estimates by 0.19%; we’ll call revenues flat with the Zacks consensus. Three of the last four quarters registered earnings beats for BlackRock, and shares, which had been up 15% year to date, are up another 1.3% in early trading. For more on BLK’s earnings, click here.

UnitedHealthcare UNH also outperformed estimates, bringing in $3.73 per share versus $3.60 expected in its Q1 report, on $60.31 billion which beat the Zacks consensus by 1%. Shares had been down year to date, by 7.6%, but are now up 3.3% in today’s pre-market. For more on UNH’s earnings, click here.

We see a wealth of earnings reports after the bell today, as well: Dow component IBM Corp. IBM, Netflix NFLX, United Airlines UAL and rail transportation major CSX Corp. CSX are among the names we’ll be hearing from.

Mark Vickery
Senior Editor

Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>>

Radical New Technology Creates $12.3 Trillion Opportunity

Imagine buying Microsoft stock in the early days of personal computers… or Motorola after it released the world’s first cell phone. These technologies changed our lives and created massive profits for investors.

Today, we’re on the brink of the next quantum leap in technology. 7 innovative companies are leading this “4th Industrial Revolution” - and early investors stand to earn the biggest profits.

 See the 7 breakthrough stocks now>>

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.