These 'off-cycle' software companies may be set for upbeat results next week
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While the end of May is within sight, there remain plenty of tech earnings reports coming up to stoke investors' interests heading into the Memorial Day weekend.
According to Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow, there are a handful of what he called "off-cycle" software companies scheduled to deliver quarterly results in the week ahead that may prove meaningful "as a gauge for the overall [software] spending environment."
Among the companies Lenschow believes stand out in the upcoming round of earnings is cloud-based data platform developer Splunk (NASDAQ:SPLK). Analysts estimate that Splunk (SPLK) will post a loss of 75 cents a share, on $629.7 million in revenue, when it delivers its fiscal first-quarter results on May 25. Lenschow said that checks with customers and business channels suggest that Splunk (SPLK) will post "a solid but not stellar quarter with decent cloud momentum."
Lenschow, who has an overweight rating and $135-a-share price target on Splunk's (SPLK) stock, said that business trends for the recently completed quarter "were only down slightly and are expected to pick up next quarter." It will also be Splunk's (SPLK) first quarterly results since new Chief Executive Gary Steele came on the job on April 11.
Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) also got high marks from Lenschow, who has a rating of overweight, and a $480-a-share price target on the company's stock. Lenschow said there's no real surprise for why he believes Intuit (INTU) is set up for a strong business update when it delivers its fiscal third-quarter results on May 24.
"Our analysis of IRS and credit card data signals another strong tax season for TurboTax," Lenschow said. "There is [also] a more than achievable setup in both Credit Karma and small business services." 
Analysts estimate Intuit (INTU) will report a quarterly profit of $7.58 a share, on $5.51 billion in revenue for its third quarter.
Lenschow said Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) appears "set up to deliver solid first-quarter results", with analysts currently estimating the company will turn in a profit of 85 cents a share, on revenue of $1.43 billion, on May 26. Wall Street is expected to key in on what Workday (WDAY) says about its outlook for the rest of the year for evidence that it is working through issues affecting the cloud-based business services industry.
"We think Workday is set up to deliver solid first-quarter results," Lenschow said. "[However], investors expect a solid quarter, but we are more cautious on [Workday's] outlook given the reliance on large, complex projects and the potential for longer sales cycles."
The upcoming slate of reports come on the heels of strong results last week from security software company Palo Alto Networks (PANW), which also gave a upbeat forecast for the the rest of the year.