Economic uncertainties in some major developing and developed nations, soft commodity prices and adverse impacts of unfavorable foreign currency movements kept the growth momentum restricted for a few industries in the first quarter of 2016. These headwinds were primarily responsible for weak results in the previous four quarters.In addition, worried over the weakening health of the global economy, the International Monetary Fund has lowered its world economic outlook to 3.2% for 2016 and 3.5% for 2017. Economic growth forecasts for advanced and emerging economies have been lowered by 20 basis points (bps) for 2016 and 10 bps for 2017.Narrowing down to the U.S. markets, macro headwinds plagued the Jan-Mar quarter of a few industries, including Industrial Products. In the quarter, the country’s industrial production fell 2.2% year over year. In addition, the export demand for U.S.-manufactured machinery suffered in the initial months of the quarter.What Statistics Reveal?According to the Zacks Industry classification, the Machinery industry is broadly grouped under Industrial Products, one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors. Below we briefly discuss the broader sectors’ as well as machinery industry’s earnings trend so far in the Jan-Mar quarter.Per our report dated May 6, roughly 436 companies or 87.2% of the S&P 500 companies reported their results for the Jan-Mar quarter. Earnings have fallen roughly 7.5% while revenues have declined 1.5% compared with the year-ago quarter. Results for the Industrial Products sector were also weak. Earnings declined 21.3% year over year while revenue was down 8.6%.With results unlikely to improve, earnings for the S&P 500 companies are projected to fall 6.7% compared with a 6.1% decline recorded in the previous quarter. Revenues are likely to edge down 1.1%, an improvement over a 3.2% fall in fourth-quarter 2015.Earnings for the Industrial Products sector are expected to decline 22.8% in the quarter; while revenues will likely fall 9.4%.What’s in Store for 2 Machinery Companies, MIDD and ZBRA?Below we discuss briefly the expectations from the upcoming results (Jan-Mar quarter) for two Machinery stocks:Middleby Corp. MIDD: This machinery company is likely release its first-quarter 2016 results on May 11. In the last four trailing quarters, the company reported better-than-expected results in three while lagging estimates in one with an average beat of 3.61%.Our proven model does not conclusively show that Middleby is likely to beat earnings this quarter. This is because the company lacks the right combination of two key ingredients — a positive Earnings ESP (the percentage difference between the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate) and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) or #3 (Hold). The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) and a 0.00% Earnings ESP. As it is we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or #5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions momentum. Over the last 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the stock has inched up 1.2% to 84 cents for first-quarter 2016.Zebra Technologies Corporation ZBRA: This machinery stock is slated to release its first-quarter 2016 results on May 10, before the market opens. The company reported better-than-expected results in three of the four trailing quarters, while lagging estimates in one with an average beat of 7.69%.Our proven model does not conclusively show that Zebra Technologies will beat earnings this quarter because it currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 and a 0.00% Earnings ESP. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the stock is currently pegged at $1.11 per share for first-quarter 2016.Don’t miss on our full earnings release article on the machinery stock, Middleby Corp as the actual results might hold some surprise!Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free reportWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report MIDDLEBY CORP (MIDD): Free Stock Analysis Report ZEBRA TECH CL A (ZBRA): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research