3 Swing Trades for Q3 Earnings Season

With third-quarter earnings season in full swing, it’s a great to time to look for swing trades.

Swing trades are the Goldilocks of the trading world. They are not as ‘in-and-out as day trading but have a much shorter time horizon than long-term buy-and-hold strategies. Typically, from buy to sell, a swing trade can last anywhere from a couple of days to a couple weeks or more.

Earnings season is primed for swing trading because stocks often see big movements around their quarterly reports. Of course, the elevated volatility can also work against you so carefully selecting companies that are likely to impress is key. Sometimes the jump in stock price comes from a big earnings beat, a bright outlook, or some other unforeseen announcement.

Here are three names to consider when sifting through the sea of potential short-term earnings plays.

Will Facebook Go Up After Earnings?

Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) has received its share of negative press in recent weeks—and that’s what makes it an intriguing earnings play. The media has been piling on about the social media platform’s idle stance on a range of political and social developments, and rightly so. The stock has dipped 17% from last month’s record high setting the stage for an earnings-led rebound.

On most occasions, Facebook wows the market with its lofty financial results as it has in each of the last five quarters. This time around the Street will be looking for 18% bottom line growth but some analysts are predicting much better. Among the nearly 40 firms that cover Facebook several see EPS growth of 25% to 30%.

Whether or not Facebook impresses will largely hinge on its ability to demonstrate continued user growth especially in Asia. People around the globe continue to flock to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp making the platforms a must-reach for advertisers in all industries.

Facebook’s headaches related to exposed inactions, privacy concerns, and power outages aren’t going away anytime soon. However, as we’ve seen in the past, another strong earnings report could make the market brush these issues aside allowing the stock to resume its broader uptrend.

Will Boyd Gaming Beat Q3 Earnings Estimates?

Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD) is slated to report third quarter performance after the close on October 26^th. The casino property owner will once again have the odds in its favor with an easy comparison to last year when most of its venues were closed or restricted.

Last quarter, Boyd Gaming trounced the consensus earnings number and the Street’s estimates could prove overly conservative yet again. While much of the attention has gone towards casino traffic, the company’s most exciting growth drivers are in online gaming.

As more and more states legalize online gambling and sports betting apps, Boyd has been quick to pounce on the opportunities. Expanding partnerships with MGM Resorts and FanDuel hold the potential for an earnings surprise given the growing popularity of online gaming nationwide.

Meanwhile, the Vegas strip is said to be slowly coming back to life. Pent-up demand for entertainment in other parts of the country could also drive better than expected results as it did last quarter when revenues soared 295% in Boyd’s Midwest & South segment.

The big unknown here is the impact of delta variant cases on the period. But the online part of the business could help offset any weakness in casino visits. This and the fact that Boyd Gaming has handily beat expectations in every pandemic era quarter makes it worth a roll of the dice.

Is Oceaneering International Stock an Energy Play?

Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII), a provider of engineering services and products to offshore energy producers, has high hopes going into its October 27^th earnings report. A rejuvenated oil and gas market spurred by soaring commodity prices has the Street anticipating a profitable third quarter.

Last quarter Oceaneering International delivered its best quarter in years thanks to rising demand for its underwater vehicles and survey services. Earnings were double what the Street expected, and the small-cap stock embarked on a steady climb that has persisted into this week’s report.

Since the company is involved with all aspects of the offshore oilfield lifecycle, it can offer customers a wide range of products and services. This presents unique cross-selling opportunities that other energy equipment providers lack. Having such a diversified business model, which also includes technology solutions for the aerospace and defense sectors, also means an earnings surprise can come from any one of Ocean Engineering’s five divisions.

Despite its small stature, Oceaneering is not a volatile energy stock. This makes it a relatively safe play on rapidly improving offshore oil drilling activity—and one that can produce some solid risk-adjusted gains in the coming days and weeks.