For Immediate Release Chicago, IL – April 11, 2016 – Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week’s list includes Alcoa (AA), CSX Corp (CSX), Fastenal (FAST), J.P. Morgan (JPM) and Delta Airlines ( DAL). To see more earnings analysis, visit http://at.zacks.com/?id=3207. Every day, Zacks.com makes their Bull Stock of the Day available, free of charge. To see it, click here. Q1 Earnings Season Takes the Spotlight Alcoa (AA) may no longer be as relevant to the U.S. economy and the stock market as it may have been at some stage in its long life. But the company’s name gets plenty of sunshine from the widely-held belief that its earnings report kick-stars each quarterly reporting cycle. Many in the market even see the company’s earnings report as a leading indicator of what to expect from the rest of corporate America. But that is most likely overstating the company’s bellwether status, notwithstanding aluminum’s significance to the automotive, aircraft manufacturing and construction end markets. The bottom line is that the relevance of Alcoa’s results and outlook is fairly limited; it doesn’t tell us much beyond what may be useful for the broader industrial metals space. Results the day after Alcoa’s report from railroad operator CSX Corp (CSX) and industrial nuts-and-bolts supplier Fastenal ( FAST) have a lot more relevance to the economically sensitive parts of the U.S. economy. In total, we will get results 14 S&P 500 members this week, including all the money center banks. Here are this week’s key earnings reports Monday (4/11): Alcoa is the key report today after the close, with the company expected to earn 2 cents in EPS on $5.3 billion in revenues. Estimates have been under pressure given the commodity price headwinds, with the current EPS estimates one-third of what was expected three months back. The stock has responded negatively to recent earnings releases irrespective of whether the surprises were positive or otherwise. Tuesday (4/12): Fastenal is the key report in the morning while CSX Corp will report after the close. Fastenal is expected to earn 44 cents on $975 million in revenues compared to EPS of 43 cents on $953 million in revenues in the year-earlier quarter. CSX is expected to report 37 cents in EPS on $2.7 billion in revenues vs. 45 cents EPS on $3.02 billion in revenues in the year-earlier quarter. Estimates and the stock have been under pressure lately given headwinds from the weakness in coal and overall soft demand backdrop from the manufacturing sector. Wednesday (4/13): J.P. Morgan (JPM) will report results before the market’s open, with the bank expected to earn $1.26 in EPS on $23.9 billion in revenues, which will compare to $1.45 in EPS on $24.1 billion in revenues in the 2015 quarter. J.P. Morgan shares are down almost -12% year to date on the back of the broadly unfavorable backdrop for the major banks (Finance has been the weakest performing sector of the market year to date). J.P. Morgan and its peers have been weighed down by the flattening yield curve, a weak capital markets and investment banking business as a result of heightened market volatility and rising estimates of provision expenses as a results of the Energy sector’s deteriorating credit profile. J.P. Morgan’s Q1 EPS estimate of $1.26 is down -17% from what was expected two months back. For the Finance sector as a whole, total Q1 earnings are expected to be down -10.7% on -4.7% lower revenues. Thursday (4/14): Delta Airlines (DAL) reports after the close. Delta is expected to earn $1.29 in EPS on $9.24 billion in revenues vs. EPS of 44 cents on $9.4 billion in revenues in the year-earlier period. Friday (4/15): Citigroup is the key report in the morning, with the bank expected to earn $1.04 in EPS on $17.7 billion in revenues vs. $1.39 in EPS on $19.7 billion in revenues in the March 2015 period. Here are four key points to know about the Q1 earnings season. First , Q1 estimates fell sharply over the last three months and are continuing to come down. Total earnings for the quarter are expected to be down -11.1% on -2.3% lower revenues. Earnings growth is expected to be negative for 11 of the 16 Zacks sectors, including Technology and Finance, the two largest in the index. Second , the negative earnings growth in Q1 will be the fourth quarter in a row of earnings declines for the S&P 500 index. The headwinds remain unchanged from other recent periods, essentially a combination of Energy sector weakness, the dollar strength and global growth constraints. Please note that Q1 earnings growth would still be in the negative even on an ex-Energy basis. Third , the magnitude of negative revisions that Q1 estimates suffered over the last three months has been the highest of all recent quarters in the comparable periods. Fresh weakness in oil prices at the start of the period was no doubt a big driver of pushing estimates down. But Energy isn’t the only sector that suffered negative revisions. In fact, estimates fell for 14 of the 16 Zacks sectors since the start of the period, with only two sectors (Utilities & Retail) experiencing modest positive revisions. Fourth , the growth challenge isn’t restricted to Q1 or the preceding few quarters; it is actually no better for the current and following quarters either. Total 2016 Q2 earnings are currently expected to be down -5.5% on -2.1% lower revenues, a growth pace that will go down more in the coming days as companies report Q1 results and guide lower for Q2. All of this year’s growth has effectively evaporated, with the modest positive growth for 2016 as a whole entirely a function of current expectations for the last quarter of the year. The Ever Falling Estimates Estimates for 2016 Q1 started coming down at an accelerated pace as companies predominantly guided lower on the 2015 Q4 earnings calls, consistent with the trend we have been seeing for more than two years now. Total Q1 earnings for companies in the S&P 500 are currently expected to be down -11.1% from the same period last year, a material decline from the -1.1% decline expected at the start of the quarter. Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today. Find out What is happening in the stock market today on zacks.com. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report ALCOA INC (AA): Free Stock Analysis Report CSX CORP (CSX): Free Stock Analysis Report FASTENAL (FAST): Free Stock Analysis Report JPMORGAN CHASE (JPM): Free Stock Analysis Report DELTA AIR LINES (DAL): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.