Earnings Predictions
for the
Week Beginning April 16, 2018

Stock Market Under Pressure But Slowly Gaining Traction!

by Ian Harvey

April 16, 2018

Under Pressure!!

“RESULTS for EARNINGS PREDICTIONS”
DATE	TRADE	GAIN
March 26, 2018	RHT APRIL 20 2018 150.000 CALL	P.P: 200%
March 27, 2018	RH APRIL 20 2018 80.000 CALL	P.P: 158%
March 28, 2018	GME APRIL 20 2018 14.000 PUT	P.P: 65%
March 28, 2018	WBA APRIL 20 2018 65.000 CALL	P.P: 38%
March 29, 2018	STZ APRIL 20 2018 230.000 CALL	P.P: 20%
April 03, 2018	PLAY APRIL 20 2018 40.000 PUT	P.P: 42%
April 04, 2018	KMX APRIL 20 2018 60.000 PUT	P.P: 19%
April 04, 2018	AYI APRIL 20 2018 135.000 PUT	P.P: 247%
April 05, 2018	CONN APRIL 20 2018 35.000 CALL	P.P: 48%
April 10, 2018	MSM MAY 18 2018 90.000 PUT	P.P: 23%
April 11, 2018	BBBY MAY 18 2018 20.000 PUT	P.P: 205%
April 12, 2018	DAL MAY 18 2018 52.500 PUT	P.P: 26%
April 13, 2018	JPM MAY 18 2018 110.000 CALL	P.P: 69%++
April 13, 2018	C MAY 18 2018 70.000 CALL	P.P: 98%++

NOTE: P.P: – Potential Profit

Options Trades to Consider Based on Expected Earnings Reports:

Monday, April 16

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), a provider of Internet television network, will report earnings after the market closes. The consensus earnings estimate is $0.63 per share on revenue of $3.69 billion.  The Earnings Whisper number is $0.64 per share. Consensus estimates are for year-over-year earnings growth of 57.50% with revenue increasing by 39.95%.

Overall earnings estimates have been revised higher since the company's last earnings release. Three months ago, Netflix shares rose more than 13% in a single day after reporting analyst-stumping fourth-quarter results.

Netflix has been one of the strongest stocks in the market this year. Shares have risen sharply, and investors remain incredibly bullish at this time. Netflix has done a fantastic job growing its subscribers, adding a massive 8.3 million new subscribers just last quarter. Of the new subscribers, close to 2 million were domestic.

CEO Reed Hastings and his team have predicted that this positive momentum will continue into 2018, with subscriber growth forecast to accelerate to about 6.35 million this quarter from 4.95 million in the year-ago period. New content releases and growth in international markets will be the main drivers behind those gains.

Overall technical indicators for NFLX are bullish with a strong upward trend. The stock has recent support above $280.00, and recent resistance below $320.00.

Short interest has decreased by 10.4% since the company's last earnings release.

Of the 34  analysts who cover the stock, 18 rate it a “strong buy”, two rate it a “buy”, 13 rate it a “hold”, and one rates it a “strong sell”.

Option trade to consider: Buy the NFLX MAY 18 2018 320.000 CALL at approximately $16.70.

Tuesday, April 17

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX), recognized as a leading supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry; a large-cap growth stock who designs, manufactures, markets and services semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits, will report after the market closes. The consensus earnings estimate is $4.36 per share on revenue of $2.85 billion. The Earnings Whisper number is $4.45 per share.

Consensus estimates are for year-over-year earnings growth of 55.71% with revenue increasing by 32.31%. Last quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 17.6%.

The surprise history has been impressive in Lam's case. The company surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average of 9.16%.

The company's shares have charted a solid trajectory in the recent times, increasing 64.6% in the past year, outperforming the industry’s gain of 50.4%.

Lam Research has a high exposure to the memory segment that is likely to witness strong growth in the coming quarters. The strength is driven by cloud computing, big data, mobile devices and IoT.

The company is doing well and expects to succeed in areas such as device architecture, process flow and advanced packaging technology inflections.

Short interest has decreased by 13.1% since the company's last earnings release.

Overall earnings estimates have been revised higher since the company's last earnings release.

Option trade to consider: Buy the LRCX MAY 18 2018 210.000 CALL at approximately $8.50.

Wednesday, April 18

American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), a credit card issuer, will report after the market closes. Consensus calls for earnings of $1.73 per share. The company earned $1.34 during the same period last year.

The catalyst for the growth in AXP is an expansion of the consumer base it provides loans to, with loans revenue increasing by 14% in the last quarter and card member spending was up 11%. The board looks to grow consumer base over margins which will increase net income in the future.

AXP may be able to increase long-run operating revenue by expanding OptBlue. OptBlue is a program pursued by Amex to increase the acceptance of Amex credit cards in small businesses.

The reduction in corporate tax rate will increase earnings in the future, leaving more free cash flow to be used for buybacks which will increase the company's share price over time.

American Express has established a solid niche for itself as a financial services provider for status-oriented and high-income individuals and organizations. And the company does a great job of satisfying that specific niche of the market.

With low unemployment and rising wages, consumer confidence is strong which is great for payment processors like American Express, and should drive shares higher once the overall market regains its strength.

Of the 20 analysts who cover the stock, eight rate it a “strong buy”, and 12 rate it a “hold”.

Option trade to consider: Buy the AXP MAY 18 2018 95.000 CALL at approximately $2.30.

Thursday, April 19

Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE: TSM), the world's largest dedicated integrated circuit foundry, will report before the market opens. TSM is expected to post adjusted earnings of $0.60 per share and total revenue of $8.45 billion. These results would represent year-over-year growth rates of 11.1% and 12.6%, respectively.

Shares of TSM have gained about 35% over the past year.

Several analysts are quite positive on TSM……

• ValuEngine upgraded shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday, April 2nd.
• Zacks Investment Research raised Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 22.
• Goldman Sachs raised Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd.
• HSBC raised Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th.
  

Option trade to consider: Buy the TSM MAY 18 2018 43.000 CALL at approximately $1.35.

Friday, April 13

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (NYSE: CLF), formerly Cliffs Natural Resources, is a Cleveland, Ohio, business firm that specializes in the mining and beneficiation of iron ore, and will report earnings before the market opens. The consensus estimate is for a loss of $0.19 per share on revenue of $217.43 million. The Earnings Whisper number is ($0.17) per share.

Overall earnings estimates have been revised higher since the company's last earnings release. The current year has seen three estimates go higher in the past sixty days compared to none lower, while the next year estimate has seen three upward and one downward revision in the same time period.

Analysts have also increased their ratings and price targets…..

• Goldman rated the Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s stock as a Neutral in a research note published on Tuesday, March 20th, 2018 and posted an $8 price target on the common stock of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
• B. Riley FBR, Inc. gave the stock a Buy rating, while setting a price target at $12 in a research note from Friday, March 2nd, 2018.
• Credit Suisse rated the stock as an Outperform in a research note dated Wednesday, February 7th, 2018.
  

The company's finances and business strategy look better than they have in years, and there are some modest tailwinds that could help boost the business.

Cleveland-Cliffs has gone on the offensive by acquiring land for potential new mines as well as taking larger equity stakes in its existing mines.

Cleveland-Cliffs is about to break ground on a transformative project: its Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) facility in Toledo, Ohio. This facility will produce a higher-quality feedstock to use in electric arc furnaces rather than the conventional blast furnaces that have been its customers for more than a century.

Option trade to consider: Buy the CLF MAY 18 2018 7.000 CALL at approximately $0.50.

An Important Note: That these suggestions for options trade considerations require investors/traders to use their own discretion as to when to enter or exit! As well, it is advisable to do further research and due diligence before executing your trade.

If you wish to receive more options trading recommendations similar to this, which will help boost your portfolio strategy, get on board with the members of Stock Options Made Easy.

Our proven track record says it all!!

Best of Trading,
Ian Harvey
Director of Stock Options Made Easy

”Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time.”

Option Tip for your Success!
Options traders are not successful because they win.
Options traders win because they are successful.

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