Cramer's week ahead: Next week sets the tone for all of earnings season

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday looked ahead to the start of earnings season, focusing on quarterly reports from the big banks and other companies in the packaged foods and travel industries.

The “Mad Money” host’s lookahead came after stocks rallied hard on Wall Street to rebound from Thursday’s big sell-off, helping the major averages end the week higher.

“What happens next week will color the entirety of earnings season,” Cramer said. “If we get some good ones, we’ll be in party mode, but a negative series of numbers from the banks and some upsetting Covid stats could make for a tough earnings season.”

Revenue and earnings-per-share projections are based on FactSet estimates:

PepsiCo

• Q4 2021 earnings release: 6 a.m.; conference call: 8:15 a.m.
• Projected EPS: $1.53
• Projected revenue: $17.97 billion

JPMorgan Chase

• Q2 2021 earnings release: 7 a.m.; conference call: 8:30 a.m.
• Projected EPS: $3.16
• Projected revenue: $29.96 billion

“PepsiCo [will give] us great numbers, but they also have to talk about how raw costs keep going up, especially freight. JP Morgan should give us excellent numbers, too, but they’re going to have to talk about how trading and lending aren’t as strong as they should be,” Cramer said.

“I think both stocks are too high at this moment, given those two negatives,” he continued. “I would hold off on buying them before earnings unless, of course, we get a meaningful pullback on Monday.”

Goldman Sachs

• Q2 2021 earnings release: 7:30 a.m.; conference call: 9:30 a.m.
• Projected EPS: $10
• Projected revenue: $12.13 billion

“If people are worried about trading profits … they’re going to have to be extra worried about Goldman, because so much of their business is trading profits, even as corporate financial revenues should be very strong,” he said.

Wells Fargo

• Q2 2021 earnings release: 8 a.m.; conference call: 11:30 a.m.
• Projected EPS: 95 cents
• Projected revenue: $17.77 billion

“Wells is a turnaround story, more than it is a banking story,” Cramer said. “If CEO Charlie Scharf tells us a good tale about how the turn is going, then I think his stock can actually break away from the group, maybe even make new highs for the year.”

Bank of America

• Q2 2021 earnings release: 6:45 a.m.; conference call: 9 a.m.
• Projected EPS: 77 cents
• Projected revenue: $21.86 billion

“If you believe the economy’s gonna get stronger and interest rates will rise, and maybe rapidly rise, then you want to buy the stock of Bank of America right here, right now,” he said.

Citigroup

• Q2 2021 earnings release: 8 a.m.; conference call: 10 a.m.
• Projected EPS: $1.99
• Projected revenue: $17.32 billion

“I’m not sure about Citigroup’s earnings quality, new CEO there, it’s an inexpensive stock, but I don’t want to get behind it,” the “Mad Money” host said.

Delta Air Lines

• Q2 2021 earnings release: before market; conference call: 10 a.m.
• Projected EPS: $1.36
• Projected revenue: $6.14 billion

“I want to know how much damage the Delta Covid strain is doing to Delta,” Cramer said. “We also need to know if business travelers are finally coming back.”

BlackRock

• Q2 2021 earnings release: before market; conference call: 8:30 a.m.
• Projected EPS: $9.31
• Projected revenue: $4.6 billion

“I’m sincerely hoping they tell us their position on outfits like Engine No. 1,” he said.

UnitedHealth Group

• Q2 2021 earnings release: before market; conference call: 8:45 a.m.
• Projected EPS: $4.43
• Projected revenue: $69.47 billion

“It is still buyable, here,” Cramer said.

Alcoa

• Q2 2021 earnings release: after market; conference call: 5 p.m.
• Projected EPS: $1.28
• Projected revenue: $2.64 billion

“They gave us a fantastic quarter last time, but now it looks like many of the cyclicals have peaked,” he said. “This one’s especially important because aluminum goes into everything and the rising cost has been a major stumbling block for gross margins for a lot of the buyers of aluminum.”

First Horizon

• Q2 2021 earnings release: 6:45 a.m.; conference call: 9:30 a.m.
• Projected EPS: 39 cents
• Projected revenue: $771 million

“I think it could be a whopper because its core Tennessee market is red-hot,” Cramer said.

Kansas City Southern

• Q2 2021 earnings release: before market; conference call: 8:45 a.m.
• Projected EPS: $2.17
• Projected revenue: $750 million

“Expect them to comment maybe on Biden’s newfound hostility to the industry,” he said. “I think the White House is trying to block this deal. I wouldn’t be surprised if they somehow get their way.”

Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of Wells Fargo.

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