Earnings Expectations For The Week Of November 17: Best Buy, Home Depot, Target And More

The retail earnings season rolls on this week. Big-box retailers Best Buy Co Inc BBY, The Home Depot, Inc. HD, Lowe's Companies, Inc. LOW, Staples, Inc. SPLS and Target Corporation M will take their turns in the earnings spotlight.

After last week's strong results from Wal-Mart and Macy's and mixed results from J.C. Penney, analysts are expecting strong earnings growth this week from the consumer electronics and home improvement giants mentioned above, but shrinking earnings from the other two.

Here is a closer looked at these and some of this week's other most anticipated quarterly reports.

See also: This Data Foreshadows A Robust Holiday Shopping Season

Best Buy

The third-quarter forecast for the consumer electronics giant calls for earnings per share (EPS) to have risen from $0.18 in the year-ago period to $0.24 in Thursday morning's report. Yet revenues are expected to be more than 3 percent lower to $9.08 billion.

Note that the consensus EPS estimate has ticked up by a penny in the past 60 days, and that EPS handily beat consensus expectations in the previous four quarters. So far, the consensus forecast for the current quarter shows another solid gain on the bottom line but a marginal revenue slip.

Home Depot

In its report early Tuesday, this Atlanta-based retailer is expected to say that earnings rose about 16 percent year-over-year to $1.13 per share for the three months that ended this past October. Back in the second quarter, EPS topped consensus estimates by $0.07, or almost 5 percent.

Revenues for the third quarter are predicted to be about 5 percent higher to $20.47 billion, relative to the same period of last year. So far the consensus forecast for the current quarter has revenue almost 6 percent higher and per-share earnings up more than 25 percent.

Lowe's

Analysts expect this Home Depot rival to say that it had a profit of $0.58 per share in its most recent quarter. That would be up from $0.47 in the year-ago period. Revenues are forecast to have risen more than 4 percent from a year ago to $13.55 billion for the period that ended in October.

So far, solid growth on the top and bottom lines are predicted for the holiday shopping period, as well as more than 17 percent EPS growth for the full year, on more than 4 percent revenue growth. The North Carolina-based company is scheduled to share its results Wednesday before the markets open.

Staples

When it shares its results first thing Wednesday, this big-box purveyor of office supplies is expected to say earnings for the most recent quarter were $0.36 per share. That would more than 14 percent lower than in the year-ago period. Staples beat EPS expectations by a penny in the previous period, but fell short in the two periods before that.

The consensus forecast also calls for revenue to be down nearly 3 percent year-on-year to $5.93 billion for the fiscal third quarter. So far, the estimates for the current quarter suggest further declines on both the top and bottom lines, not a positive sign for the holiday shopping season.

Target

The forecast for this Minneapolis-based retailer calls for earnings of $0.47 per share and for revenue to come to $17.56 billion for its fiscal third quarter. In the year-ago period, the company posted earnings of $0.56 per share and revenue totaled $17.26 billion. The consensus EPS estimate was $0.48 just 60 days ago.

Sequential and year-over-year growth are forecast for both the top and bottom lines for the holiday shopping period. For the full-year, analysts so far are looking for about a 2 percent EPS drop but for revenue to be about 2 percent higher than a year ago. Look for Target to share its results Wednesday before the opening bell.

See also: 12 Money Myths Just Debunked By Experts

And Others

Others retailers expected to report earnings gains this week include Dollar Tree, GameStop, Gap, L Brands, PetSmart, Ross Stores, TJX Companies and Williams-Sonoma. However, Urban Outfitters has a forecast for an earnings decline.

Other quarterly reports expected to show earnings growth this week include those from Agilent Technologies, J.M. Smucker, Mallinckrodt, Salesforce.com and Tyson Foods. However, shrinking earnings are anticipated from Autodesk, Keurig Green Mountain and Marvell Technology. Analysts are looking for a net loss from Intuit and from JD.com.

Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following Benzinga on Twitter.