American Express: A Compelling Buy

American Express (AXP) blurs the line between a traditional credit card company and effecting traditional banking services such as personal and business loans and savings accounts. This business model blend makes American Express a dual-threat as it can ride the wave of improved consumer spending coming out of the pandemic as witnessed by its blow-out second-quarter earnings and rising interest rates as the Federal Reserve steps off its accommodative easing policies. American Express has recently dropped over 10% from its 52-week high after target price hikes and upgrades across a broad range of analysts. Couple this with inexpensive valuation metrics, and the fundamental and technical investment case comes together nicely. American Express sits in the sweet spot of an improved consumer and a potential rising interest rate environment.

Latest Earnings and Growth

The recent earnings report by American Express demonstrated its strength and potential growth moving forward as the pandemic continues to subside. Analysts across the board upgraded the stock and increased the price targets because of these stellar earnings. Earnings blew past analysts' estimates, driven by a recovery in global consumer spending, specifically on travel. Consumer spending logged double-digit growth in the second quarter. The U.S. consumer has "rocketed ahead on travel," per CFO Jeff Campbell, with spending related to travel and entertainment on its cards within the United States reaching 98% of pre-pandemic levels. On global travel and entertainment spending, he said it had recovered to nearly 70% of 2019 levels, two quarters earlier than previously expected. Strong demand for premium, fee-based products helped drive the addition of U.S. Platinum card members to record levels, per CEO Stephen Squeri. The company sold 2.4 million new proprietary cards in the quarter, while spending on goods and services on its cards grew 16% on a currency-adjusted basis. Net income rose to $2.28 billion, or $2.80 per share, for the quarter ended June 30 from $257 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected $1.67 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data. Excluding interest expense, American Express’ total revenue rose 33% to around $10.24 billion. Continue reading "American Express: A Compelling Buy"

Earnings Calendar for August 2021

Over 2,300 publicly traded companies are scheduled to release earnings data in August 2021.

Companies big and small hope to beat analysts' estimates with better than expected bottom-line numbers.

The story should be similar to every other earnings season - some companies will smash estimates while others will disappoint the market. And, some announcements will spawn incredible earnings plays for active traders.

Most Anticipated Earnings For The Month

Below are some of the most anticipated scheduled earnings announcements for August Continue reading "Earnings Calendar for August 2021"

Goldman Sachs - A Compelling Long-Term Buy

Noah Kiedrowski - INO.com Contributor - Biotech - Goldman Sachs


Favorable Backdrop and Financials

The latest Federal Reserve meeting indicated that interest rate increases might need to be accelerated while boosting its domestic GDP estimates for 2018 and 2019 alluding to a domestic and global economic expansion. Augmenting this economic backdrop is a record number of IPOs, a record number of global merger and acquisitions, rising interest rates, market volatility, deregulation and tax reform. All of these elements provide an ideal confluence that bodes well for the financial sector. The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) in particular looks to benefit in unique ways due to the consulting fees regarding mergers and acquisitions, trading around market volatility, launching of its cryptocurrency futures contracts as well as rising interest rates as Goldman Sachs has entered into the commercial banking segment when the bank acquired GE Capital’s savings business in 2016 assuming approximately $16 billion of deposits at the time. JP Morgan (JPM), Citi (C) and Bank of America (BAC) are all poised to benefit from the favorable economic backdrop as well however I feel Goldman is in a unique position to benefit across the board in all business segments. Goldman Sachs is relatively inexpensive based on historical standards after a string of quarterly results that have beat Wall Street’s estimates. Goldman Sachs offers a 1.3% dividend yield that was recently increased and a share buyback program to augment the overall favorable backdrop providing a compelling long-term buy. Continue reading "Goldman Sachs - A Compelling Long-Term Buy"

This Unlikely Stock Is Hitting On All Cylinders

Daniel Cross - INO.com Contributor - Equities


It's no secret – it's a tough market out there. Oil prices are at record lows, the US dollar remains stubbornly strong, and now the Fed has all but admitted that the economy is weaker than expected and we might need to start preparing for negative rates.

In this kind of environment, smaller companies can often slip through the volatility. They can ride the waves of uncertainty and ignore macroeconomic hardships that plague their larger competitors making the smaller one an unlikely winner. If that stock is an industry which is trending higher, that's even better.

One stock in the communications sector is slipping through the noise and could be a huge opportunity for investors. The communications sector is widely viewed as an industry undergoing a rising tide, which as most investors know means it lifts all ships within that industry. Continue reading "This Unlikely Stock Is Hitting On All Cylinders"

Can Star Wars Save Disney Or Will ESPN Sink The Ship?

After the close today, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) announces its earnings for the fourth quarter. Analysts are expecting Disney to make $1.45 a share on revenues of 14.7 billion. But here's the rub, ESPN which produces 45% of Disney's revenues, lost 3 million subscribers last year and is now a potential Achilles' heel for Disney.

Here's how I'm looking at Disney:
The Trade Triangles are all red and negative indicating lower prices. Technically the chart for Disney looks dismal at best. Based on those two elements, I expect Disney to either come in on analysts estimates or to miss their earnings. I do not expect to see a surprise on the upside here. Based on that analysis you would want to be short (if you're not already based on the Trade Triangles) Disney before the close today.

Daily Chart of The Walt Disny Company (NYSE:DIS)

Another stock that is set to report fourth-quarter 2015 results after the close today is Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM). Analysts estimate that this stock should have positive earnings of around $0.50 a share. I would be surprised given the overall negative tone of tech stocks that even if Akamai reports good earnings, it won't go far on the upside. Technically speaking this stock according to the Trade Triangles is in a major downtrend, it has however completed a 61.8% Fibonacci retracement and is within striking distance of a long-term support line which comes in around $37 a share. I would be more inclined to go with the trend and stay short this market. The original Trade Triangle sell signal for this stock came on 7/6/15 at $69.13. Akamai closed on Monday evening at $40.98. Continue reading "Can Star Wars Save Disney Or Will ESPN Sink The Ship?"