PepsiThis upcoming week there are going to be several notable big name companies reporting financial earnings that we will need to watch out for.

Monday:
YUM Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) will be reporting its third quarter earnings Monday after the market closes. The stock is expected to report to shareholders that it earned 45 cents per share during the quarter. For the same period last year the company came in with 42 cents per share. The last time that the company failed to meet analyst estimates was was back on 2/6/05 when it missed its fourth quarter 2005 expectations by 1 penny, coming in with 39 cents instead of the 40 cents per share analysts had expected to see. The company has been focusing a lot of its intention this year on its foreign business, and expects to see Chinese sales increase 10 percent this year.

Tuesday:
Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) will really get the earnings season rolling when it reports Tuesday after the market close. Wall Street typically uses Alcoa as a benchmark for how earnings will be, so this is a big one to keep a close watch on. Analysts are expecting to see the company report 65 cents per share for its third quarter results. The company last reported earnings back on July 9, when it matched estimates of 81 cents a share for its second quarter. A lot of eyes will be following Alcoa and looking for any signs to indicate whether America’s largest aluminum producer felt any impact for the recent subprime mortgage turmoil. Analysts are still divided as the overall impact the weakening housing market is having on the rest of the country, and Alcoa should give us a little more insight into that question.

Thursday:
Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP) : Pepsi will be reporting its third quarter results on Thursday before the market opens. Analysts are expecting to see the soft drink giant show investors 96 cents per share. Pepsi last reported earnings on July 24 when it came in with 94 cents per share, beating analyst estimates of 89 cents for its second quarter.

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