Earnings Expectations for the Week of April 2 (KMX, MON, STZ)

A new calendar quarter has begun, but the new earnings season does not kick off until Alcoa

reports its first-quarter results on April 10, followed shortly thereafter by reports from JP Morgan

and Wells Fargo

. This week, the most prominent reports will come from Monsanto, Constellation Brands and CarMax. Analysts expect to see earnings growth from all three of them. Here's a closer look at the consensus forecasts for these and others reporting on this otherwise quiet week on the earnings front.

St. Louis-based agricultural products giant Monsanto

is expected to say Wednesday that its fiscal second-quarter earnings are 11.8% higher than a year ago to $2.12 per share. That estimate is a penny higher than it was 60 days ago. And revenues for the quarter are expected to have increased 9.7% to $4.5 billion. So far, analysts expect increasing EPS and sales for the current quarter and the full year as well. Note that Monsanto has topped consensus EPS expectations for the past four quarters -- by 43.8% in the first quarter.

Analysts expect that fourth-quarter fiscal 2012 earnings from Constellation Brands

have risen three cents a share from a year ago to $0.38. That estimate is the same as it was 60 days ago. The wine and spirits maker missed expectations in the third quarter though, ending a streak of beats going back ten quarters. And revenues for the quarter are forecast to have fallen 12.4% to $626.7 million. Full-year revenue is expected to have fallen 20.5% from the previous year to $2.6 billion, while EPS have risen 6.8% to $2.05.

In its Thursday report, earnings from CarMax

are estimated to be $0.40 per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. That would be just two cents higher year over year, as well as up four cents from the previous quarter. Revenues are expected to total $2.4 billion, or 6.7% higher, for the quarter and $9.9 billion, or 10.6% higher, for the year. And analysts are looking for full-year EPS to be up 6.7% year over year to $1.78. That estimate is unchanged from 60 days ago. Analysts overestimated the EPS of this retailer of used vehicles in the previous two quarters.

On deck Tuesday are Texas-based specialty retailer Conn's

and Mitcham Industries

, which leases seismic equipment. Both are expected to post year-over-year earnings and revenue growth. But analysts predict International Speedway

of Daytona will report declines in both the top and bottom lines. All three of these companies have fallen short of EPS estimates in two of the past four quarters. Wednesday's anticipated earnings winners are Acuity Brands

and Global Payments

. Both are headquartered in Atlanta and both are forecast to have year-over-year per-share earnings growth of 25% or more. Others reporting Wednesday and predicted to have double-digit percentage EPS growth in the most recent quarter include specialty chemicals company A. Schulman

, industrial products wholesaler MSC Industrial Direct

and membership shopping warehouse club operator PriceSmart

. But of these three, A. Schulman is the only one expected to post a decline in revenues. Also on Wednesday, restaurateur Ruby Tuesday

is expected to report a decline in earnings but modest sales growth from a year ago. Look for electrical equipment maker AZZ

to post Q4 and full-year EPS on Thursday that are about 11% higher than a year ago, suggests the analysts. But quarterly EPS from Pier 1 Imports

and WD-40

are anticipated to be about the same as a year ago. Both are expected to report higher sales for the most recent quarter, however. The EPS estimate for Schnitzer Steel Industries

has dropped by more than half over the past 60 days and is about 70% lower than in the same period of last year.

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