It’s loss season for some big names

Weak second quarter for 14 companies in S&P 500 expected

Profit season is coming. But for a group of big companies — it would be better described as loss season.

There are 14 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500, including Anadarko Petroleum, biotech Vertex Pharmaceuticals and online retailer Amazon.com that are expected to post adjusted losses during the second-quarter, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from S&P Capital IQ.

Investors are braced for a notso-hot period of corporate profits. Companies in the S&P 500 overall are expected to post 4.3% low- er profit in the second quarter — which would be the first profit decline since the third quarter of 2009, S&P Capital IQ says.

A good chunk of the profit decline, too, can be attributed to the handful of companies expected to post losses during the quarter. Much of that pain is centered around the implosion of profits on the oil patch. Eight of the 14 companies expected to lose money during the quarter — or more than half — are energy stocks.

Take Anadarko Petroleum, a Texas-based explorer and developer of oil, is expected to post an adjusted loss of $323 million, or 64 cents a share, during the second quarter. That’s expected to be the biggest single-company loss within the S&P 500. And that’s just an estimate — the actual loss could come in even larger. The company has missed earnings estimates in the past three earnings reports. Shares are down 7% this year so far as investors expect a bad situation to get even worse.

Given the drop in the price of oil, investors can understand why energy stocks are in a world of hurt. But some investors might be surprised to see leading stocks in hot areas, like e-commerce and biotech, set to lose money, too. Amazon.com — which has seen its shares soar 41% this year — is expected to lose $66 million, or 14 cents a share, during the quarter. Investors have been willing to look past Amazon’s losses in quarters past due to strong revenue growth. Amazon posted 15% higher revenue in the first quarter. Analysts are calling for just about that much — 15.7% — revenue growth in the second quarter.

Biotech Vertex has seen its shares race 10% higher this year. The stock is rising despite investors foreseeing the company losing $143 million, or 59 cents a share, in the quarter. As is the case with biotech companies, investors aren’t afraid of losses as long as the company’s products meet regulatory milestones.