Now that we're in the thick of yet another fun-filled earnings season, I wanted to take a closer look at the upcoming earnings for one particular company in the defense sector and share my thoughts on what needs to happen in order for Haliburton (HAL) to meet and/or surpass analysts' expectations.

Recent Trend Behavior

On Thursday, shares of HAL, which currently possess a market cap of $60.69 billion, a forward P/E ratio of 13.95, and a dividend yield of 0.83% ($0.60), settled at a price of $70.35/share. Based on a closing price of $70.35/share, shares of HAL are trading 0.49% above their 20-day simple moving average, 5.24% above their 50-day simple moving average, and 23.61% above their 200-day simple moving average.

These numbers indicate a short-term and mid-to-long term uptrend for the stock, which generally translates into a buying mode for most near-term traders and many long-term investors. If the company can demonstrate a stronger-than-expected earnings performance when it announces Q2 results on July 21, there's a very good chance the company's trend behavior will continue to move in a very positive direction.

Upcoming Earnings Outlook

When it comes to the company's upcoming Q2 earnings, there are a number of things potential investors should consider. For example, analysts are currently calling for HAL to earn $0.91/share in terms of EPS (which is $0.18/share higher than what the company had reported during Q1 2014, and $0.18/share better than what the company had reported during the year-ago period) and $7.88 billion in terms of revenue when its latest earnings are released on July 21.

In order to meet and/or exceed its quarterly EPS estimates, there are a number of factors there are number areas in which I'd like to a solid improvement versus Q1 2014. With that said, I'd like to see a 3%-to-6% increase in the company's Q2 revenue (as compared to Q1's revenue of $7.3 billion), a 5%-to-10% increase in the company's Q2 operating income (as compared to Q1's operating income of $970 million), and lastly, a 5%-to-8% increase in the company's income from continuing operations (as compared to Q1's income from continuing operations of $623 million).

Halliburton's Recent Developments Could Further Enhance Long-Term Growth

During the first quarter of 2014, Halliburton expanded its line of DrillDOC drilling optimization tools with the launch of 4 3/4-inch and 9 1/2-inch collars. According to the company's press release,”The addition of the two new sizes is especially beneficial while drilling complex directional well trajectories and horizontal or extended reach wells. The new DrillDOC collars provide the measurements necessary to fully understand downhole drilling dynamics”. For those of you who may be as familiar with the oil & gas sector, complex directional drilling helps unlock additional resources and further enhance the overall production for not only Halliburton but other firms that may be utilizing Halliburton's DrillDOC technology.

Conclusion

For those of you who may be considering a position in Halliburton, I'd actually look to keep a closer eye on the company's revenues over the next 6-12 months as any uptrend in the five contributing could positively impact the company's long-term earnings growth. In terms of the company's upcoming quarter, steady increases of at least 3% in terms of the company's Q2 revenues as well as steady increases of at least 5% in terms of both operating income and income from continuing operations could help HAL stay on course to meet or even surpass analysts' expectations when it announces earnings on July 21.