Brace yourselves, earnings season is coming. But unlike in Game of Thrones, where the ever-present threat of winter is an ominous warning of hard times to come, Q3 report season could be exactly what Wall Street needs in order to buck a handful of headwinds keeping stocks at bay.

It might seem somewhat silly to worry about market headwinds with major indexes just a few notches below their all-time highs, but rising bond yields, concerns about inflation, and ongoing U.S-China trade disputes could be quite troublesome in the final weeks of 2018.

What could ease anxiety among investors is another strong earnings season, and we will start to get a sense of whether that will happen as the Q3 reports begin rolling in en masse over the next few weeks.

Remember to prepare for this period using the Zacks Earnings Calendar. This handy tool is your perfect one-stop-shop to properly prepare for earnings, dividend announcements, and other important financial releases.

The traditional report season will really kick off next Friday with usual pack of big banks issuing their latest results. We will cover the biggest of the bunch in this week's preview, and we will also be taking a look at pair of other major reports due out before Friday.

Make sure to check out these companies as they announce earnings during the week of October 8!

1. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA - Free Report)

Pharmacy retail giant Walgreens is scheduled to release its latest quarterly earnings report before the market opens on October 11. Shares of WBA have added a nice 7.5% over the past month, and the company continues to show signs of growth. Nevertheless, earnings estimate revisions have been relatively flat ahead of the report, with WBA sporting just a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) right now.

According to our latest Zacks Consensus Estimates, analysts expect Walgreens to report earnings of $1.44 per share and revenue of $33.64 billion. These results would represent year-over-year growth of 9.9% and 11.6%, respectively. Walgreens has surprised to the upside in each of the past four quarters, notching an average beat of nearly 6.0% in that time.

2. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL - Free Report)

Major domestic airline Delta is slated to announce its latest fiscal period's results before the opening bell on October 11. Rising oil prices and wages have battered airline stocks this year, and although a strong summer season helped DAL recover strongly from its 2018 lows, shares have been trending down once again.

Delta currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Our Zacks Consensus Estimates for the soon-to-be-reported quarter are calling for earnings of $1.76 per share and revenue of $11.95 billion. These results would represent growth of 12.1% and 8.1%, respectively, from the prior-year period.

3. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM - Free Report)

JPMorgan is the largest of the mega-banks that will report on the morning of Friday, October 12. Interestingly, JPM has also been one of the strongest performers in what has been an up-and-down year for bank stocks. Rising interest rates should be an earnings growth catalyst for the industry, but a flattening yield curve has investors worried.

Earnings are projected to be $2.25 per share and revenue is expected to be $27.53 billion, according to the latest Zacks Consensus Estimates. These results would represent year-over-year growth of 27.8% and 8.7%, respectively. JPM has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) just one week out from its report.