Earnings Watch For October 20 (AAPL, IBM, TXN, HAL, RMBS)

(RTTNews) - Technology giant Apple Inc. (AAPL), which recently unveiled the next iteration of its tablets-- iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, with both sporting Touch ID fingerprint sensor found on the iPhone, is slated to report fourth quarter results. The Cupertino, California-based computing and electronics company is expected to report earnings of $1.31 per share, higher than the $1.18 per share last year. Further, quarterly revenues are projected to increase to $39.85 billion from $37.47 billion reported a year ago. The company's shares closed Friday's regular trading at $97.67. (52-wk H/L $103.74/$70.51)

Information technology giant International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) will post its third quarter results after the close of trading. The earnings of the Armonk, New York-based company are expected to rise to $4.32 per share from the previous year's $3.99 per share whereas revenues are estimated at $23.37 billion, down from $23.72 billion a year ago. Recently the company reportedly agreed to pay Globalfoundries Inc., an investment arm of the government of Abu Dhabi, $1.5 billion to take over its unprofitable chip-manufacturing unit. The stock closed Friday's regular trading at $182.05. (52-wk H/L $199.21/$172.19)

Oilfield services provider Halliburton Co. (HAL) is slated to report third quarter results before the opening bell. The earnings of the company are expected to grow to $1.10 per share from the year-ago quarter's $0.83 per share. The Houston, Texas-based company is expected to report revenues of $8.53 billion, up from $7.47 billion last year. The company's shares closed Friday's session at $52.60. (52-wk H/L $74.33/$47.60)

Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), the world's largest maker of analog chips, is due to report its third quarter results after the close of trading. The earnings of the company are expected to climb to $0.71 per share from the $0.56 per share reported a year ago. Further, revenues are projected at $3.46 billion, higher than the last year's $3.24 billion. On the Nasdaq, TXN closed Friday's trade at $43.67. (52-wk H/L $49.77/$39.19)

Chip interface technology developer Rambus, Inc. (RMBS) is scheduled to post third quarter results. The company is expected to report a profit of $0.05 per share, compared to a loss of $0.05 per share reported a year earlier. Revenues are anticipated to decrease to $71.00 million from $73.29 million reported in the prior-year quarter. The shares closed Friday at $11.06. (52-wk H/L $14.82/$8.15)

Gannett Co. (GCI), Genuine Parts Co (GPC), Hasbro Inc. (HAS), Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (VRX), Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG), Illumina Inc. (ILMN), Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (PLG), Rent-A-Center (RCII) and Steel Dynamics (STLD) are also scheduled to release their results.