While several large caps reported earnings last week, most of those companies were banks. Fourth quarter earnings season doesn't really kick into gear until this week as several companies from each sector are scheduled to report.
Considering that Tech is the largest sector in the S&P 500 (it accounts for 19% of the total market cap), companies like Google (GOOG), IBM (IBM), Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) will likely grab a lot of headlines when they report. But take a look at the diverse group of large caps scheduled to report this week:
Tuesday, 1/22: DuPont (DD), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Travelers (TRV), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Verizon (VZ), Google (GOOG), IBM (IBM), CSX (CSX), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Texas Instruments (TXN)
Wednesday, 1/23: Abbott Labs (ABT), AbbVie (ABBV), Coach (COH), McDonald's (MCD), Apple (AAPL), Stryker (SYK)
Thursday, 1/24: 3M (MMM), Baxter (BAX), Southwest Air (LUV), Union Pacific (UNP), W.W. Grainger (GWW), United Continental (UAL), AT&T (T), Microsoft (MSFT), Starbucks (SBUX)
Friday, 1/25: Honeywell (HON), Kimberly Clark (KMB), Procter & Gamble (P&G)
While Tech is certainly important, I will be particularly interested in the earnings of economic bellwethers like railroads CSX (CSX), Norfolk Southern (NSC) and Union Pacific (UNP). And I'll also be closely watching the guidance from consumer discretionary stocks like Coach (COH) and Starbucks (SBUX) given the expiration of the 2% payroll tax holiday in 2013.
Are there any particular companies or sectors you'll be watching closely this week? Let us hear about it below.
One thing's for sure: by the end of this week we should have a pretty good read on how well Q4 earnings season is going.
More From Zacks.com