5 Stocks To Watch This Week – October 31, 2016

Tuesday, November 1

Wednesday, November 2

Thursday, November 3

Coach (COH) Consumer Discretionary – Textile, Apparel and Luxury Goods | Reports November 1, before the open.

The Estimize consensus is looking for earnings per share of $0.45, one cent above the sell-side consensus and 11% higher than the same period a year earlier. That estimate has decreased 6% since Coach’s last quarterly report. Revenue is anticipated to increase 4% to $1.066 million, in-line with Wall Street. The stock is up 9% since the beginning of the year.

What to Watch: For the last two quarters, Coach has been able to produce double-digit growth on both the top and bottom-line as it undergoes a major brand revitalization. While revenue growth is expected to slow this season, there are still some bright spots as the luxury goods maker heads into its best quarter of the year, the holiday season. The acquisition of Stuart Weitzman in 2015 has been very positive as the Coach strives to expand its portfolio of brands. New campaigns featuring ‘it girl’ Gigi Hadid have played well with younger millennial consumers, a demographic that Coach has struggled to attract in the last few years. Headwinds for the quarter still include a stronger US dollar as the company expands globally, and a value-conscious consumer that isn’t necessarily spending on high-end items right now.

Gilead Sciences (GILD) Health Care – Biotechnology | Reports November 1, after the close.

The Estimize consensus is looking for earnings per share of $2.88, 7 cents higher than Wall Street and down 9% from the same period last year. That estimate has decreased 9% since Gilead’s most recent report. Revenue is anticipated to decrease 9% YoY to $7.48 billion, as compared to the sell-side’s consensus of $7.39 billion.

What to Watch: Gilead Sciences has turned a fruitful 2015 into a troublesome 2016 after a string of weaker than expected earnings reports. Shares are down 27% year to date as investors jump ship to better performing companies. A large portion of this draw-down has been driven by weaker sales of its flagship Hep C products; Harvoni, Sovaldi and the recently launched Epculsa. These treatments were primarily credited with the company’s double digit gains in 2014-15 and are now being blamed for negative growth in fiscal 2016. In the second quarter, the group of drugs recorded a 18.5% decline primarily due to lower sales of Harvoni. Harvoni sales were down a resounding 29% as new competition, mainly from Merck, seize its market share. Weak performance from the Hep C franchise was not only disappointing in the U.S. but Europe as well.