What's Ahead Thursday: Alibaba Expected to Show Earnings Growth

In 'What's Ahead on Wall Street' for Thursday May 5, we have several companies we're focusing on. Alibaba Group (BABA) - Get Report , Merck (MRK) - Get Report and Occidental Petroleum (OXY) - Get Report are all out with quarterly results on Thursday morning. Investors will be closely eyeing Alibaba when the e-commerce giant posts its results. Wall Street expects earnings of $3.62 a share on revenue of around $23.2 billion. Both the top and bottom line are projected to show significant growth. Even though there are concerns about China's economic health, online shopping momentum has been quite strong. In addition to results, traders will be also looking for any updates on the company's acquisition plans as it looks to expand its ecosystem. On the economic calendar, we have jobless claims coming out in the morning followed by St. Louis Fed head James Bullard giving a speech about the economy in California. TheStreet's U-Jin Lee reports from Wall Street.