Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice.

Now, I may not be Santa Claus, but I do tend to make lists (both mental and physical) to organise my work as an analyst. And being prepared for next week’s peak Q3 corporate reporting season can make the difference between a successful and failed investment. The upcoming days will bring us lots of exciting new companies reporting results amd, of course, many UK Index investors are keeping a close eye on the major UK banks reporting results, starting with Barclays on 24 October.

Now, if Banks are not your cup of tea, there are plenty of other exciting UK Index blue chips reporting next week, like the big diamond and copper miner Anglo American (23 Oct) or the parent company of British Airways International Consolidated Airlines (26 Oct). For the full list, just go ahead and take a look at our Week in Advance publication.

Now, everyone has their own way to prepare for this results-reporting bonanza, but here’s what I do, both for my own benefit and to help our clients navigate the financial markets.

1. Make sure that the results publication is actually happening. The quarterly presentation may be on the official schedule, but if a company recently issued an unexpected profits warning (remember Superdry earlier this week?), that schedule may be out of date.
2. Find out what the company reported in the previous quarterly/annual report, or the latest trading statement. This could give you hints about the upcoming results, but also offer an important comparable. The latest quarter may see an uptick in sales or pre-tax profits, but what analysts are really looking at is context. How did results compare with a previous quarter, or the previous year? Was a dip in sales irregular, or did the company anticipate it? Is there plan to mitigate that risk in the future? Answers to those questions will give you plenty of insight into how shares might move as a reaction to latest results.
   

   RBS share price moves last time it reported (3 Aug)

3. Get to know what the market thinks of the company. Are brokers mostly bullish or bearish on, let’s say, Royal Bank of Scotland (reporting Q3 results next Friday, 26 Oct, by the way)? Are they making any projections for company revenue growth? A Bank or Mining company may have had a poor quarter, but if analysts expected even lower numbers, the shares could react positively.

Right now, I am spending my busy schedule ticking boxes in my own checklist to make sure that our clients are ready for whatever happens next week on the UK Index .

Here at Accendo Markets we have full access to the kind of resources necessary to fully scope the market. You might think that processing all this information is difficult, but not when you have Accendo’s award-winning research to support you.

Taking advantage of it is easy. Simply click here to  access our research and trade ideas so next week you come fully prepared and ready to trade.

Artjom Hatsaturjants, Research Analyst, 19 October 2018