Previewing Earnings for Intuitive Surgical, eBay, Microsoft, Intel, IBM & Others

Stocks tend to be most volatile around earnings season, when a good or bad report can make or break it. However, a good or even great earnings report doesn't necessarily translate into a huge pop for a stock.

During earnings season, BullMarket.com publishes a comprehensive 20- to 30-page Earnings Preview report for the week ahead each Friday.

Over the past year, BullMarket.com used the data it has collected to correctly predict investor reactions for approximately two-third of the stocks it's previewed.

In its latest earnings preview, BullMarket.com looks at several popular stocks still set to report earnings this week, including Google (Nasdaq: GOOG - News), eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY - News), F5 Networks (Nasdaq: FFIV - News), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - News), Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG - News), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC - News), and IBM (NYSE: IBM - News).

Here is just a tiny sample of what BullMarket.com wrote about IBM: "IBM has topped analyst EPS estimates each quarter over the past two years. During that stretch, the stock has risen the next day only two of eight quarters. Seasonally, the stock has risen three of the past four years. ...

"Longer term, we think IBM has one of the strongest brands in technology, and the company has done a tremendous job of transforming itself over the years, divesting businesses such as its HDD operations, PCs, and printing, while focusing on services and software.

"Its long-term contracts, meanwhile, create a nice recurring revenue stream and give it a strong, visible free cash flow stream. This makes it one of the most defensive businesses in tech. In addition, there are high switching costs associated with moving to competitor's products, which creates a solid moat around its products and services. Software and emerging markets represent solid growth opportunities." The full BullMarket.com earnings analysis includes a look at historical earnings data and EPS trends for the companies above and more; examines past investor reactions to earnings in various contexts; gives options activity analysis; reviews previous-quarter earnings; and gives an opinion on both what earnings will look like and how investors will react based on the aforementioned data points.

Just a few of the correct calls BullMarket.com made for Q3 were: to be bearish on STEC (Nasdaq: STEC - News) ahead of earnings. to be bullish on Panera Bread (Nasdaq: PNRA - News) ahead of earnings. to be bullish on Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO - News) ahead of earnings. to expect a bearish investor reaction to Netflix's (Nasdaq: NFLX - News) earnings. to be bullish on Akamai (Nasdaq: AKAM - News) ahead of earnings. A daily investment service that is committed to creating long-term wealth for its members, BullMarket.com's Recommended List of stocks is up 33.3% from 2008-2011 versus a -14.4% return for the S&P, topping the benchmark each year since the start of the Great Recession. Subscribers receive actionable market commentary, access to 40+ stock ideas on the Recommended List, and real-time trade alerts. Plus, sign up for a free trial today to view Bull Market's in-depth Special Reports - including its annual High Yield and MLP reports - and its timely Earnings Previews, which are published every Friday during the heart of earnings season. Get a Risk-Free Trial to Bull Market Today! (Please note returns are unaudited.)