Today's most important earnings

With the streaming wars gathering pace, analysts are keen to get a sense of whether Netflix can revive its subscriber growth following weaker-than-expected numbers in the second quarter. For the third quarter, Netflix said it expected to add 7 million subscribers, above the 6.1 million reported a year earlier, with 800,000 net new subscribers in the U.S. Netflix is expected to report earnings of $1.03 per share on revenue of $5.25 billion. As well as earnings and subscriber numbers, guidance will also come under added scrutiny, with Apple and Walt Disney set to release their streaming services next month.

IBM is expected to report earnings of $2.67 a share on revenue of $18.23 billion. To step up its shift into the higher-margined cloud computing sector, IBM acquired open-source software giant Red Hat in July. Many on Wall Street are now eagerly awaiting the report to gauge the impact of the acquisition. The aggressive M&A activity, however, has kept a lid on free cash flow and profit growth and will likely continue to do so, according to Wedbush. IBM shares are up nearly 26% this year, with most of the gain coming in the first quarter as stocks recovered from 2018 end-of-year slump.

Before the bell on Wednesday, Bank of America brings the curtain down on earnings for big Wall Street banks following reports from JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. Like that of its peers, Bank of America’s earnings will likely reflect the bittersweet impact of Fed rate cuts, which has tended to hurt interest income growth while boosting loan growth. Bank of America is expected to report earnings of 55 cents on revenue of $22.6 billion. Shares are up 20.7% this year.

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