Earnings season: Focus on Alcoa and Chevron earnings

The earnings season is about to start and Alcoa is again the first report to hit the market. The next round of important releases is next Friday, when JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo report earnings.

Quick highlights

Tuesday:
After the close Alcoa reports 3Q earnings.  Alcoa's EPS is expected to come out at 0.01, down 93.6 percent from last year. EPS estimates have plunged 75.7 percent over the last three months despite a recent 15 percent surge in aluminum prices.

Chevron is expected to report interim 3Q EPS of 3.07 down 16.4 percent from last year. EPS estimates have risen 9.5 percent in the last three months. The company reports at 21:00 GMT. It reports its full Q3 earnings on November 2.

Friday:
The poster child of US banking, Wells Fargo, is expected to report 3Q EPS of 0.87 up 20.3 percent from last year. Wells Fargo continues to perform well compared to its peers, and the improvement in the US mortgage market should have benefitted the bank in the third quarter. EPS estimates are up 1.9 percent over the last three months. The report is expected to hit the market at 12:00 GMT.

JPMorgan Chase has put most of the "London Whale" and its CIO debacle behind it and is expected to report EPS of 1.19, up 16.8 percent from last year, driven by improveming credit conditions in the US economy. EPS estimates are up 12.1 percent over the last three months. The report is expected to hit the market at 11:00 GMT.

Read the full earnings release PDF with all reports next week, including estimates and change in estimates.