Earnings Preview: Twitter Inc, Gilead Sciences, Inc., and Ford Motor Company

Earnings took a toll on U.S. markets last week, with several high profile companies missing expectations. While the earnings front is relatively quiet today, things pick back up tomorrow, when Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) all report. Below, we discuss how traders are preparing for second-quarter numbers from each TWTR, GILD, and F.

• TWTR earnings will be released tomorrow evening, and few reports are as highly anticipated. The shares have been known to make huge move after the company reports numbers; TWTR has made double-digit, single-session moves after three of its past six earnings reports. Moreover, its average post-earnings swing comes in at 14.6%. This time around, the options market is pricing in a 13.5% swing, according to TWTR's near-term at-the-money (ATM) straddle. In today's trading, both calls and puts are accelerated, with the weekly 7/31 41-strike call leading the way with what appears to be buy-to-open activity. This group of traders is expecting the shares to eclipse $41 by week's end, when the contracts expire. Call buying has been the strategy of choice for TWTR traders lately: the stock's 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) call/put volume ratio of 3.08 ranks higher than three-fourths of similar readings from the past year. The equity is getting hit hard today, though, down 3.6% at $34.15. 


• GILD's second-quarter numbers will also be released after tomorrow's close. The stock's post-earnings moves haven't been as extreme as TWTR's; GILD has averaged a 3.6% swing in the session following its past eight reports. This time around, the options market is expecting a 6.6% move. Bullish betting is popular on the stock, with calls crossing at almost twice the expected amount today. This isn't unusual. GILD's 10-day ISE, CBOE, PHLX call/put volume ratio of 3.21 is higher than 82% of all readings from the past year. On the charts, even though the shares have beat out the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 12.6 percentage points in the past three months, they've fallen 5.8% in the past two sessions, last seen at $110.82.


• F's second-quarter numbers come out tomorrow night, too, and the options crowd is expecting a 4.2% move. Even though this is small compared to what's expected from TWTR and GILD, it's actually more than twice the average of F's past eight post-earnings swings. In fact, the most F has moved in a session following earnings -- going back eight quarters -- is 4.3%. While there's not happening in F's options pits today, it's worth noting that put buying has picked up considerably recently. The equity's 10-day ISE, CBOE, PHLX put/call volume ratio now stands at 0.73 -- only 2 percentage points from an annual high. Today, F is up 0.4% at $14.45.