2 Most Important Company Earnings This Week

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- When investors think banks and technology, they think Bank of America(BAC) and Google(GOOG).

With 43 constituents of the S&P 500 reporting quarterly results in the coming week, most of them financial and technology companies, Bank of America and Google could end up being the most important earnings reports to watch on Thursday.

That's because Bank of America's report will give investors the most realistic view of the troubled areas of the U.S. bank system, while Google will offer key insights into how the European debt crisis is affecting technologies companies that derive a big chunk of revenue from the region.

Analysts expect Bank of America to post earnings of 21 cents a share, according to Zacks Research. A poll of analysts by Thomson Reuters has the number a bit higher at 23 cents a share on revenue of $24.1 billion. By comparison, the bank reported earnings of 4 cents a share on revenue of $22.4 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Investors, however, will have to look Bank of America's earnings and revenue and the year-earlier comparisons to get a better hold on mortgage issues and other problems plaguing the U.S. bank system.

"Bank of America is important because it's just so big," says Tom Villalta, manager of the Jones-Villalta Opportunity Fund. "Bank of America is going to give you a much better window on what is happening in the U.S., which you won't get from a broader technology name that is disproportionately affected by the global economy."

Villata says that while JPMorgan Chase(JPM) gave investors a good sense of the health of U.S. financial companies, Bank of America's insights on loan loss provisions, loan quality and the bank's mortgage portfolio will be critical to watch.

"It gives you a more general sense of U.S. economic help," says Villalta, who owns shares of Bank of America in his fund. "They have the biggest mortgage portfolio and then there are the legal liability. We want some color on the mortgage putbacks and litigation surrounding that. We want to know what they're putting aside for that."