A Few Discouraging Trends From Earnings Season

It's a huge day for earnings, with the most anticipated earnings report of the season, Apple , getting released after the market closes. While investors will be anxiosly awaiting results out of Cupertino, it can be useful to zoom out and look at how earnings season is shaping up across a wide range of companies. When you do so, you see an interesting trend emerging: Companies are missing revenue expectations in large numbers while meeting or exceeding earnings at a normal rate. It's a trend that Dow component AT&T backed up with its own revenue miss and earnings beat this morning. With about a quarter of the S&P 500 already having reported, we have enough data to discern these trends,. Analyst and editor Brenton Flynn goes into more detail in the following video.

Some main issues investors will be keying in on for Apple are the releases of the iPhone 5, a smaller iPad, and a rumored Apple TV . If you're looking for a recommendation on how to play Apple, along with continuing updates and guidance on the company whenever news breaks, we've created a brand-new report that details when to buy and sell Apple. To get started, just click here now.

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Brenton Flynn owns shares of AT&T. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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