Earnings Expectations for the Week of August 13

Retail earnings season got off to a start last week when drug store chain CVS Caremark CVS and department store operators Kohl's KSS, Macy's M and Nordstrom JWN bested second-quarter earnings estimates, while JCPenney JCP reported a net loss. Many more retailers are scheduled to share their quarterly results this week. Here is a look at some of the most anticipated of those reports. Walmart Second-quarter fiscal 2013 earnings for Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart WMT are forecast to come to $1.17 per share, while revenues totaled $115.5 billion. In the same quarter of last year, the company beat EPS estimates when it posted $1.09 per share and $109.4 billion in sales. Note that Walmart fell short of analysts' estimates in two of the past six quarters, but it beat estimates by a nickel per share in the first quarter. Walmart, which is trading near its all-time high, reports quarterly results Thursday before the markets open. Home Depot Analysts predict that big-box retailer Home Depot HD will say Tuesday that it saw a profit of $0.97 per share in the second quarter, which would be up from $0.86 per share in the same period a year ago. The consensus estimate has remained unchanged in the past 60 days. Revenues for the quarter are forecast to have crept up 2.5 percent from a year ago to $20.7 billion. Last week, Home Depot announced that it would acquire U.S. Home Systems, a supplier of cabinet refacing products, bath-tub liners and closet-organization systems. The Gap This shopping mall staple is expected to say Thursday that for its second quarter it had earnings of $0.48 per share. That would be up from the $0.35 per share that Gap GPS reported in the same period a year ago. Sixty days ago, that consensus EPS estimate was only $0.37. And analysts on average expect revenues to total $3.5 billion, or 4.4 percent higher than in the year-ago quarter. Gap shares reached a 52-week high last week after the San Francisco-based retailer said same-store sales surged to 10 percent in July. Dollar Tree Dollar Tree DLTR, the discount variety store operator, is expected to report that its second quarter profit rose 17.0 percent year over year to $0.47 per share. That EPS estimate is unchanged over the past 60 days. Analysts have underestimated Dollar Tree's EPS in the past ten quarters. This specialty retailer had a two for-one share split on July 12, and analysts on average expect revenue for the quarter to total $1.7 billion. That would be a year-over-year increase of 10.9 percent. The company is scheduled to share its quarterly results Thursday before the opening bell. Sears In its Thursday report, Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears Holdings SHLD is expected offer up a net loss of $0.93 per share for the second quarter. That compares to a loss of $1.27 a share in the same period of last year, as well as to a consensus EPS estimate of $1.45 a month ago. In the previous quarter, Sear's exceeded consensus estimates by 53.7 percent, ending a four-quarter streak of earnings misses. Second-quarter revenues are expected to total $9.6 billion, which would be about 6.8 percent lower than a year ago. And Other Retailers Among other retailers scheduled to post results this week, analysts are looking for year-over-year earnings and revenue growth from America's Car-Mart CRMT, ANN ANN, Dick's Sporting Goods DKS, Foot Locker FL, Hibbett Sports HIBB, PetSmart PETM, Ross Stores ROST and TJX Companies TJX. EPS from Buckle BKE, Limited Brands LTD and Staples SPLS are expected to be about the same as a year ago. But Abercrombie & Fitch ANF, GameStop GME, and Target TGT are expected to report a decline in earnings. And a net loss is anticipated from Bon-Ton Stores BONT, Children's Place Retail Stores PLCE and Kirkland's KIRK. Also look for reports the following week from retailers Best Buy BBY, Lowe's Companies LOW and Urban Outfitters URBN, as well as PC makers Dell DELL and Hewlett-Packard HPQ.