The third-quarter earnings season is upon us. Alcoa (AA), which used to be the unofficial harbinger of the season, will post its Q3 results on Oct. 17 ... but a handful of big-name large-cap stocks will have dropped their earnings reports before that.

Earnings reports are highly scrutinized, not just because investors are looking for information about how well individual companies are doing, but because the reports paint a picture for how well corporations as a whole are doing.

This season, investors are particularly on edge because many think the red-hot pace of profit growth seen over the past few quarters will be all but impossible to sustain.

Here's a closer look at 12 large-cap stocks that are about to present what may be the 12 most important earnings reports to watch during the Q3 season. This news may well set the tone for the overall market, and make or break the usual year-end bullishness.

Wells Fargo

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Give credit to Wells Fargo (WFC, $53.67): The mega-bank is growing its bottom line again, and should rekindle top line growth next year. Both bumped into a headwind following the 2016 realization that bank employees had opened more than 2 million unauthorized bank accounts and credit card accounts, setting off a firestorm of regulatory and public relations nightmares.

Still, even two years out, consumers don't appear to have fully forgiven or forgotten. Wells Fargo has fallen short of each of its past four quarterly earnings estimates, and the bar is set uncomfortably high headed into its third-quarter report. Analysts are calling for per-share earnings of $1.17, which actually would set a new record for the bank.

A reminder: Wells