earnings preview

Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) is scheduled to post last quarter's results on Friday. The consensus EPS estimate of $0.86 is well under the $1.07 earned in the same quarter from a year earlier. Exelon Corp. - a utilities company - has beat or matched expectation in three of its last four quarters. This...

BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) will release its last quarter's earnings numbers on Friday. The per-share earnings estimate of $0.21 is considerably less than the $0.51 earned in the same quarter a year ago. BB&T Corp. - a regional bank - has met or topped estimates in its prior three quarters.

Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) will report last quarter's earnings results on Friday. The consensus EPS estimate of $0.29 is much better than the $0.14 loss suffered in the same quarter a year earlier. Johnson Controls - an auto parts manufacturer - has topped estimates in its last three quarters,

Morgan Keegan expects companies covered in its research universe and catering to the consumer and enterprise end markets to post strong Q4 results. While the PC and smartphone cycles remained intact in Q4, Morgan Keegan believes that the quarter was driven by huge pent up demand. Normal seasonal...