The earnings season crunch continues, and among companies scheduled to report earnings tomorrow are Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY), Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW), and US Steel Corp. (NYSE: X). Here is a quick peek at each of them.
Eli Lilly hasn't missed quarterly earnings expectations in the past three years. When it reported third-quarter 2007 results back in October, its earnings per share of 90 cents beat the consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial by seven cents, as well as the actual 80 cents per share in the same period of the previous year. For the current quarter, analysts expect earnings of 89 cents per share, or $3.54 per share for the full year. That's up from $3.18 in 2006.
But Eli Lilly's 8.3% earnings per share growth forecast for the next year is less than the industry average. The analysts' consensus recommendation has been to hold Eli Lilly for the past six months. Shares have fallen recently to about two bucks above the 52-week low of $49.09 back in November.
For drug company news that could influence the earnings results, see BloggingStocks' Eli Lilly coverage.



