The pre-reporting confession season has seen  fewer profit downgrades than previous years, so most equity analysts are expecting a relatively flat earnings season – but the following themes will be key.

BHP, South32 and the commodity crunch

The commodity crunch will be top of mind going into results season with ASX-topping stocks Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton both down by more than 6.5 per cent this month as several key material and energy resource prices, including iron ore and oil, languish at six-year lows.

Aurora Funds senior portfolio manager Hugh Dive said the Australian practice of delivering high dividends could hurt many mining companies, particularly smaller ones because as it deprived them of capital necessary to keep the businesses strong.

"I think the dividends are too high as management teams strive for short-term benefits of market success," Mr Dive said.

However, there could be improvements in terms of cost savings, he said. "We're looking closely at the big two, which have drawn lines in the sand about their dividends and may surprise on the strength of their cost-outs."

Mr Dive reckons smaller companies such as the beleaguered Fortescue Metals Group as well as Mount Gibson and even BHP spin-off South 32 are likely to be in for a tough season.

Morgan Stanley equity analyst Chris Nicol said South32 and Origin Energy would face an uphill battle.

"Any broadening of resource exposure starts in these two stocks, which are both working hard against fear and loathing embedded in sentiment," Mr Nicol said.

Credit Suisse equity analyst Damien Boey said it was possible the market had underestimated the benefits of the lower Australian dollar to the resource sector because commodities prices had been hit at the same time.

CSL, Ramsay Health Care and the impact of the high US dollar

The recent decline in the Australian dollar also has an upside for companies that have significant overseas sales and report in US dollars. These include healthcare giants CSL and Ramsay Health Care, but also businesses such as packaging company Amcor and shipping pallet company Brambles.

Speculation on the healthcare sector's steady growth and its ability to benefit from the lower Australian dollar over the past 12 months have underpinned the industry's share prices, Mr Nicol said.

However, some equity analysts are not expecting any positive surprises from these businesses because the benefits of the rising US dollar may already be priced into share valuations.

"We've already paid up for the expansions and boosted translation of US dollars [into Australian-dollar earnings] for stocks like CSL, Amcor and Brambles," Mr Dive said.

"There is even potential for these results to disappoint as investors have ignored the flat growth in developed markets for these businesses," Mr Dive said. "Ramsay and CSL have been effective at meeting their market growth targets but it's going to get harder."

Commonwealth Bank and capital headwinds

Only Commonwealth Bank will report in August, but Mr Nicol said the nation's largest bank will serve as a bellwether for the future of the big four, all facing new capital requirements to service the loans they offer.

"The capital headwinds are here to stay," Mr Nicol said. "Now for earnings momentum, [the analyst] consensus appears to largely discount any risk from the real economy."

Mr Dive said much of the focus of Commonwealth Bank's results reporting would be on the state of the lender's existing loans and its capital levels.

"People will be looking for signs of bad debts rising. If capital raising is at a similar level, people will be encouraged. But we could see signs of stress, say in Western Australia or Queensland as they are in a recession, and this will rightly worry people," Credit Suisse's Mr Boey said.

JB Hi-Fi and retail woes

Retail companies have weathered another year of slow growth, low confidence and now a declining dollar making imported products more expensive. Mr Nicol said JB Hi-Fi's results and the market's response would serve as an indication of future prospects and investor sentiment for much of the consumer discretionary sector.

JB Hi-Fi will provide "a read on consumer conditions for discretionary retail," Mr Nicol said. "The first six weeks of commentary will set a tone."

Mr Boey said the extremely low growth in the June quarter  could result in profit downgrades in the retail sector.

"There has been basically zero growth in the last three months and while there are other levers companies can pull to make this look like less of an issue, a dominant theme in results season will be this tension."