Some of Wall Street’s favorite stocks are due to report their latest earnings in the week ahead. The next few days are shaping up to again be one of the busiest weeks of earnings season. More than 160 companies in the S & P 500 — or nearly one-third of the benchmark’s constituents — are on the docket to post results, and six of them are also in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The halfway point of this first quarter earnings season should come sometime next Tuesday. Profits so far have been positive. As of Friday, 77% of companies that have reported topped analyst estimates for their quarterly earnings, according to FactSet. Three fifths, or 60%, of companies also exceeded beat expectations. To find stocks reporting next week that might see a post-earnings rise in valuation, CNBC Pro screened for names that Wall Street analysts recommend and that have earnings momentum at their back. Companies had to meet the following criteria: Consensus earnings per share estimates up at least 10% in the past three and six months Have buy ratings from at least 55% of analysts covering the name Have a price target implying at least 10% upside from curent levels Take a look at the names below: Analysts have lately lifted Amazon ‘s three- and six-month earnings estimates by 139% and 309%, respectively. Consensus price targets suggest potential upside of 31% for the e-commerce platform. Shares of Amazon are up 18% for the year. The owner of Amazon Web Services (AWS) is due to report first-quarter earnings after markets close Tuesday. Earlier this month, both UBS and Citi reiterated buy ratings on Amazon and lifted their 12-month price targets. Citi analyst Ronald Josey highlighted the tech firm as one of his top picks across the Internet sector, while his updated price target of $235 indicated that shares could rise another 31%. “Given faster shipping speeds, we believe conversion rates are improving as Amazon’s retail business benefits from its regionalization approach with shorter transport distances as the overall cost to serve comes down,” Josey wrote. “While on AWS, demand for new instances appears to be improving, led by GenAI, as optimizations wane.” Mastercard has seen earnings estimates rise by 12% in the past three months, and 20% over the past six months. Average analyst price targets show that the stock could rally 18%. Earlier this month, TD Cowen initiated coverage of the credit card company at a buy rating. Analyst Bryan Bergin set a price target of $545, corresponding to an 18% rally for the credit card network. Shares of Mastercard are 8% higher this year. The company releases results before Wednesday’s stock market open. Data center company Equinix also turned up on the screen. Analysts have raised the Silicon Valley real estate investment trust’s earnings estimates by 29% over the past three and six months. Shares of Equinix have fallen 9% this year, but analysts predict that the stock could rally 11% from here. Equinix is on the docket to report its latest earnings and revenue next Wednesday. — CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
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