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Week Ahead: 5 Questions for Blue Chip Tech Earnings

What to look out for as Alphabet, Microsoft, IBM, Yahoo, and Netflix report this week.

Week Ahead: 5 Questions for Blue Chip Tech Earnings

Apr 17, 2016

For Morningstar, I'm Jeremy Glaser. Welcome to The Week Ahead, our quick take on what investors should have on their radar screens for the week starting April 18.

First-quarter earnings season kicks into high gear this week. Many blue-chip tech firms are due to report results, and here are some things we'll be looking for.

Can programmatic advertising growth continue to power Alphabet's Google business?

Will Microsoft's cloud transition keep driving growth?

IBM has been trying to offset its lethargic core legacy business with new initiatives like analytics, but will we see any signs that these will be ultimately be successful?

Yahoo is in the process of potentially selling its core media assets, but is there any progress in turning around that business?

How is Netflix's international expansion proceeding?

Outside of tech, we will get some updates from the financial-services industry, including from Morgan Stanley, Discover, Goldman Sachs, American Express, and Visa.

Industrial earnings from Caterpillar and General Electric should help provide a snapshot of the strength of the global economy.

And Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, McDonald's, and Yum Brands will give us some information on how the consumer is faring both in the U.S. and abroad.

Other high-profile earnings reports due this week include Johnson & Johnson and Verizon.

It's much quieter on the economic data front, with housing data including starts, permits, and existing sales taking center stage.

Stay tuned to Morningstar for our take on all of these stories.

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