NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--First-quarter earnings reporting season gets under way in earnest next week, with five of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and 29 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index posting results.

Last-minute filers will be working up to Wednesday night to finish their income tax returns by the midnight deadline.

Economic reports are expected to show continued low inflation and another drop in housing starts in March.

 
   Some Mark Holidays Friday, Monday

U.S. stock markets are closed Friday in observance of Good Friday, though government offices and many businesses will be open. Congress continues its spring break through next week. In dozens of countries, markets, banks, businesses and government offices will close Good Friday and Easter Monday.

 
   Goldman Sachs Likely To Post Profit

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is expected to return to a profit after posting a quarterly loss in December, the first since it became a public company in 1999. Goldman reports first-quarter results Tuesday. Higher earnings are likely in the fixed-income, currencies and commodities group, which benefited from wider bid-ask spreads, while smaller markdowns are expected in the principal investment group and commercial and leveraged loans portfolio.

 
   J&J, Abbott Labs To Report On 1Q

Two large U.S. drug makers, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT), report first-quarter results Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The recession is hurting some J&J segments, including the consumer-health care unit, its fastest-growing segment, as consumers turn to cheaper store brands of bandages, pain relievers and mouthwash.

By contrast, Abbott's results have been beating its rivals, fueled in part by its fast-growing business in heart stents, which are used to prop open damaged arteries. Abbott has a broader product base than many drug companies, including a sizable medical-devices business, and relatively little exposure to patent expirations, the bane of Big Pharma.

 
   Intel Could Signal Chip-Demand Shift

Semiconductor maker Intel Corp. (INTC) reports first-quarter results Tuesday, and investors will be watching for any hints about whether the steep drop in demand for chips is easing. Intel is expected to post earnings of 2 cents a share, compared with 25 cents a share a year earlier, with a 28% decline in revenue. Some analysts think Intel revenue could be lifted by stronger-than-expected sales of low-end chips, used in products such as the smaller and cheaper netbooks.

 
   Traffic, Cash Trends In Airline Results

Traffic trends and cash - notably to buy new aircraft - will dominate investor interest when AMR Corp. (AMR), parent of American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) report first-quarter results next week. Southwest, with no international routes, has been more adept than its peers at cutting capacity to match weak demand, but has lost the earnings support from fuel hedges that it had in recent years. American is suffering, like others, from falling leisure and business travel, notably on its routes to Europe and Latin America. Fuel prices have fallen, but with the peak-travel Easter holiday in April, analysts forecast a net loss of $1.48 a share when AMR reports Wednesday, compared with a loss of $1.32 a share last year. For Southwest, which reports a day later, per-share earnings are forecast at 3 cents, compared with 6 cents a year earlier.

 
   Better Results Seen For JPMorgan, Citi

Two of the largest U.S. banks, JPMorganChase & Co. (JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (C), will report first-quarter results Thursday and Friday, respectively. Both said last month that they had seen improved results in the first two months of this year after posting mountains of losses in 2008.

JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank in stock-market value, is expected to post per-share earnings of 32 cents on revenue of $24.64 billion, compared with 68 cents and $16.89 billion a year earlier. Wall Street expects Citigroup to post a loss of 37 cents a share on revenue of $21.37 billion, compared with a loss of $1.02 a share on revenue of $13.22 billion a year earlier.

 
   Google One Of Few With Higher Profit

Internet-search giant Google Inc. (GOOG), which reports Thursday, is expected to post higher per-share earnings and revenue despite concerns about a decline in online advertising. The company recently abandoned efforts to sell radio and print ads as it focuses resources on more promising products, and it took a first step toward selling ads targeted to viewers' likely interests, a controversial kind of Web advertising its competitors already offer.

 
   Newspaper Companies' Results May Diverge

Two of the nation's troubled newspaper publishers, Gannett Co. (GCI) and Media General Inc. (MEG), will post first-quarter results next week amid continuing declines in advertising and readership. Both companies have suspended dividends and cut jobs and other costs as they try to adapt to more people getting news, ads and entertainment online. Gannett is expected to see its per-share earnings fall to 25 cents from 84 cents a year earlier, while for Media General analysts projected a smaller loss, of 30 cents a share, compared with a loss of 91 cents a year earlier. Gannett will report Thursday and Media General a day later.

 
   GE Report To Focus On Industrial Units

General Electric Co. (GE) reports first-quarter results April 17, with the focus expected to shift from its beleaguered finance arm, GE Capital, to its big industrial businesses. GE has said GE Capital may eke out a small profit in the quarter, but the company has made clear it's counting on its divisions that sell aircraft engines, locomotives and other industrial products to drive results. Investors will be looking in particular at whether revenue from services, such as maintenance, can offset what's likely to be declining rates of new orders. Regardless, expectations are low, with GE forecast to earn 21 cents a share, compared with 44 cents a share a year earlier.

 
   Income Tax Returns Due Wednesday

With money tight this year, more taxpayers are preparing returns on their own, rather than turning to paid preparers, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service. Those returns - or requests for extensions - must be postmarked by Wednesday. Even those requesting extensions are required to pay an estimate of what they owe. People planning to file electronically shouldn't wait until the last minute to push the button because of potential crashes.

 
   March Inflation, Housing Data Due

Major economic reports next week will detail the state of inflation and the struggling housing market. The government will report on March wholesale prices Tuesday and consumer prices a day later; both are estimated to show rises of 0.1%. On Thursday, March housing starts are expected to drop for the eighth time in nine months after an unexpected jump last month.

A report on March retail sales Tuesday is expected to show a gain of 0.3% after a drop of 0.1% in February. The government also details February business inventories Tuesday and March industrial production a day later. Also Wednesday, the Federal Reserve releases its Beige Book of anecdotal reports on economic activity in various regions.

Reports on manufacturing activity are due out Wednesday for New York and Thursday for Philadelphia. And the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index releases its preliminary reading for April on Friday.

 
   Obama To Visit Mexico, Caribbean

President Barack Obama plans to visit Mexico City on Thursday on his way to the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. One issue for discussion is likely to be the intensified violence in Mexico as drug traffickers battle the army and each other for control of smuggling corridors.

The summit of 34 democratic nations is from April 17 to 19. The gathering will be the fifth Summit of the Americas since 1994 and the first in the Caribbean.

 
   Conferences

Among the significant conferences next week are the BIO-Windhover Conference from Monday through Wednesday in New York, Infocast Renewable Energy Merger & Acquisition Summit from Wednesday through Friday in Washington, D.C., and Argyle Executive Forum Leadership in Hospitality & Leisure Conference on Thursday in New York.

-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5975; kathy.shwiff@dowjones.com