NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Ready or not, here come earnings.

Nope, individual companies have hardly been a focus lately, what with the war and worries over the economy and so on. But in the coming week, as a rush of companies report their first-quarter results, that's probably going to change.

Overall, the news isn't going to be good. Industry analysts polled by First Call expect that S&P 500 earnings grew 8.3 percent from last year's dismal first quarter.

But much of that growth comes from the energy sector, where analysts think earnings grew 171 percent. Take away energy, and S&P 500 earnings look to have grown by just 1.6 percent -- not even enough to keep up with inflation.

Results always come in better than expected -- and likely will this season too. But First Call's Joe Cooper doesn't expect as big an upside margin given that warnings have been coming in at a faster clip.

Fortunately for the companies, investors appear to be in a forgiving mood -- war is seen as a legitimate excuse for less-than stellar results.

What Wall Street wants to know is what business is going to look like now that the war has reached the endgame. In answering that question, companies will be walking a tightrope: They don't want to set expectations too high, but if they're too glum they could send their share prices tumbling.

Companies in this report: Citigroup; IBM; General Motors; Intel; Microsoft; Coca-Cola; Altria.

All in all, Citigroup (C: Research, Estimates) has weathered the economy's long bout with weakness. Unlike J.P. Morgan Chase, it didn't have the big bad loan exposures to things like Enron and Worldcom. Citi's stock-related businesses have been soft, of course, but it's been able to make up ground in fixed income and in mortgages, which have benefited from low interest rates.

Still, some investors are worried. After seeing the problems at places like MBNA, they want to know how Citi's credit card business is faring. And they worry that some of Citi's interest rate bets may sour quickly if the economy recovers and the Fed starts jacking up rates.

Why it matters: Citi points the way for the entire financial sector. That it's been able to steer its way through the last few years with relatively little trouble is one of the big pluses for the economy.

First Call forecast: 77 cents a share versus 67 cents a year ago. -- back to top

Want to know what's going on in tech in general? Take a look at IBM's (IBM: Research, Estimates) results -- the company has its hand in all tech's pots.

It tells you something about the general direction of tech that Big Blue is putting less and less emphasis on hardware. Instead of mainframes, PCs and servers, the focus at IBM is software and services. To that end it made several big acquisitions last year, including Rational Software and the consulting business of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Besides wanting to know the general tone at IBM, investors want to see how well the company has been able to integrate its recent purchases into its overall business. And they'll want to see if its efforts at streamlining its hardware business are paying off.

Why it matters: The degree to which IBM is able to reinvent itself, flowing in the direction of technology growth, will provide a blueprint for other companies trying to do the same. And it will let investors know whether it's wise to keep investing in the old tech titans, or better to give your money to the new breed tinkering in the garage.

First Call forecast: 79 cents a share versus 73 cents a year ago. -- back to top

General Motors (GM: Research, Estimates) keeps playing chicken at the wheel with Ford, upping the ante on financing deals and rebates.

Most investors reckon that Ford, which is struggling to get its balance sheet back in order, is at the disadvantage. But GM has problems of its own.

Wednesday, Standard & Poor's downgraded the company's credit outlook to "negative" from "stable," citing GM's underfunded pension and retiree medical liabilities, along with worries all those deals it's offering customers are cutting into profitability.

Why it matters: Consumer spending hasn't crumbled, and a big reason for that is the deals car makers are giving them. If demand falters badly, not just the auto sector, but the economy, could be in for a fresh round of trouble.

First Call forecast: $1.54 a share versus $1.29 a year ago. -- back to top

Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates), once thought of as one of Nasdaq's four mighty horsemen, has lately been acting more like a swaybacked nag.

The world's largest maker of semiconductors already warned investors early last month that business wasn't going well. Lower-than-expected flash memory sales were to blame, it said, leading investors to believe that rival AMD was cutting into the company's market share.

Investors will want to know if it's worked down those flash memory inventories to the point where they won't need to have a fire sale. And they'll want some sense of how things are going with Centrino, Intel's new line of processors designed specifically for wireless networking.

Why it matters: Intel's compass tends to point in the direction that the PC sector is heading. If business improves, investors can see it as a sign that Intel's customers believe that a new dawn is finally coming. That could signal the much-awaited turnaround in tech.

First Call forecast: 12 cents a share versus 15 cents a year ago. -- back to top

Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) has had a better time of it lately than most of its counterparts in the tech sector. Its earnings have held up well, and its share price has actually outperformed the overall market over the past two years.

But things could be going better. Many of Microsoft's attempts at diversifying its business -- like the Xbox -- still aren't working out for it. And recently, companies have shown an unwillingness to upgrade operating systems, even though in many cases the operating systems they're using are several years old.

Why it matters: Investors are keen to know whether companies are finally beginning to upgrade their outdated systems and servers from what was put in place during the pre-Y2K buying binge. Many observers believe that a huge replacement cycle is coming, which will lift not just Microsoft, but tech in general.

First Call forecast: 25 cents a share versus 25 cents a year ago. -- back to top

Coke's (KO: Research, Estimates) sales are supposed to be a little, um, stickier than other companies'. Its business is global, and its products run from "tap to tap" -- if it doesn't come out of your faucet and it isn't beer, Coke sells it. We all gotta drink.

But that doesn't mean the company has been immune to the economy's woes. Its earnings growth hasn't been quite so stellar as in the past. It also appears to have had some trouble digesting some of its recent acquisitions. Earlier this year it said it was reducing its North American payrolls by 15 percent -- 1,000 people.

Why it matters: Coke is the world's best known consumer product, and as a result looking at its sales is not a bad way to get a read on the global economy. But this time around investors may look to Coke to get a sense of what sort of backlash there's been around the world against American products during in the lead up to and war with Iraq. Freedom fries cut both ways, after all.

First Call forecast: 37 cents a share versus 34 cents a year ago. -- back to top

The diverse family of businesses now known as Altria (MO: Research, Estimates), and which most people still think of as a tobacco company called Philip Morris, reports results Wednesday during the day.

Back in the old days, people loved companies like Altria during tough economic times. Funny thing when your main product is habit-forming -- sales hold up well even during recession.

Alas, things haven't gone quite so well for Altria lately. In March, the company's Philip Morris unit lost a $10.1 billion class action suit, and was ordered to post a $12 billion bond if it wanted to appeal.

It's made legal progress lately -- the judge who awarded the damages says he was considering options that would prevent Philip Morris from having to post that bond. Another judge temporarily blocked Illinois from collecting $3 billion in punitive damages from the company.

Even without the legal worries, the company has run into trouble. State and local governments have got it into their minds that it's OK to tax the heck out of cigarettes and to ban smoking all kinds of places. Witness New York City, where a pack will set you back $7.50, and you can't even smoke in a bar.

Why it matters: The latest legal judgments against Altria put the company at serious risk, with some people even talking about the potential for failure. In itself such chatter can be dangerous because it makes investors nervous that the days of big bankruptcies still aren't over.

First Call forecast: $1.06 a share versus $1.14 a year ago. -- back to top