Futures Lower on Earnings Disappointment. Stocks to Watch: AMZN, AAPL, BIIB, ICE, JCI, NFLX, SY, UNH, ZION

Published on Tuesday, 20 July 2010 08:28 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, July 20^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures pointed to a lower open on earnings disappointment. Goldman Sachs, IBM, and Johnson & Johnson contributed to the bearish sentiment.

Johnson & Johnson along with Goldman Sachs both issued reports that were less than expectations.

The earnings compounded disappointment over after-the-bell reports Monday from IBM and Texas Instruments disappointed investors. Its still a busy day and some additional reports could shift sentiment.

European shares were broadly lower, but mining firms made gains as metal prices rose on a weakening dollar.

Today’s stocks to watch: Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:BIIB), IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE:ICE), Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), Sybase (NYSE:SY), United Health (NYSE:UNH), and Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION).

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), the largest online retailer, said yesterday that sales of e-books exceeded for the first time the sales of hard covers, marking an important milestone for the future of book publishing and retailing. Amazon is scheduled to report its quarterly report on Thursday, with Kindle and e-book sales, clearly driving earnings. On average, analysts expect the Amazon to report a profit of $0.55 per share on revenue of $6.55 billion.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the maker of the iPhone and iPad, will likely see some volatility, as the company will be reporting its quarterly corporate results today after the close. Analysts expect profit to jump on strength of the iPad and iPhone 4 sales. Analysts on average expect the company to report a profit of $3.07 per share on revenue of $14.62 billion; a year ago Apple reported a profit of  $2.01 a share and revenues of $8.34 billion. In particular Oppenheimer expects Apple to post very strong second quarter results, but worry that the wave of negative publicity surrounding the new iPhone's wireless reception will continue to pressure its shares and potentially impact sales. The firm maintained its Outperform rating, but trimmed estimates and target to $330 from $345. Apple shares fell more than 1% in pre-market trading.

Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:BIIB), the Cambridge, Massachusetts based biotechnology company, reported earnings that beat analysts’ expectation by $0.19, on better than expected revenues. The company raised full year earnings per share above consensus, reaffirming full year revenue guidance. Biogen reported earnings of $1.31 per share on revenues of  $1.21 billion.

IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE:ICE), the global operator of commodity marketplaces, was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital, with a target price $125. Shares jumped more than 1% in pre-market trading.

Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI), the maker of automotive seating and interior systems, was initiated with a Buy at Needham and a $40 target price. Shares of Johnson Controls are trading close to 0.5% lower in pre-market trading. The company is scheduled to report its corporate results on Friday. On average the analysts expect a profit of $0.55 a share on revenue of $8.46 billion.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), the online video rental company, is scheduled to report its corporate results on Wednesday after the close. FBR Capital expects that ending subscribers, revenues, and earnings per share to modestly exceed the consensus, as the addition of the Wii at the end of March and iPad in April to the company’s list of connected devices should push subscriber growth above prior expectations. The firm also see the addition of the iPhone platform in third quarter as a more significant catalyst, FBR believes Netflix could add 2-3 million additional subscribers over the next year following its plans to launch a streaming-only service in Canada.

Sybase (NYSE:SY), the provider of end-to-end solutions for mobile and embedded computing, data warehousing, and web computing environments, was downgraded to a Hold at The Benchmark Company. The firm downgraded the stock following its earnings release and pending acquisition. Benchmark believes the stock no longer trades on fundamentals.

United Health (NYSE:UNH), the owner and manager of organized health systems, gained more than 2% in pre-market trading after reporting better than expected earnings. The company beat consensus by $0.24 a share on revenues that grew 7.4% year over year to $23.26 billion and were also above consensus. United Health also raised guidance for the full year 2010, it now sees earnings per share of $3.40-3.60 vs. $3.33 consensus and full year revenues of $93 billion above the average estimate of $92.18 billion.

Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ:ZION), the collection of regional banks with operations in the Western U.S., was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Suntrust, following its quarterly earnings report. Shares of Zion tumbled more tban 9% in pre-market trading.