Earnings Expectations for the Week of August 20

Last week, big-box retailers Walmart WMT and Home Depot HD said their earnings and sales rose in the most recent quarter, and they both boosted their full-year earnings per share (EPS) guidance. More earnings reports are due from retailers this week, highlighted by second-quarter results from Best Buy BBY. Also, results from PC makers Dell DELL and Hewlett-Packard HPQ will highlight earnings from the tech sector this week. Analysts anticipate lower EPS and revenue from both of them. Retail Earnings Second-quarter fiscal 2013 earnings from consumer electronics retailer Best Buy are forecast to come to $0.31 per share, while revenues totaled $10.6 billion. That is down from the same quarter of last year when the company posted $0.47 per share and $ $11.35 billion in sales. Analysts underestimated the company's EPS in the previous two quarters -- they beat expectations by 22 percent in the first quarter. Best Buy, shares of which are down about 20 percent in the past six months, reports quarterly results Tuesday before the markets open. Analysts also expect year-over-year earnings and revenue growth from American Eagle Outfitters AEO, Chico's FAS CHS, Fred's FRED, rue21 RUE, Signet Jewelers SIG and Williams-Sonoma WSM when they report this week. EPS from Express EXPR are expected to be about the same as a year ago. But Big Lots BIG, DSW DSW, Guess? GES and Urban Outfitters URBN are expected to report a decline in earnings. A net loss is anticipated from Barnes & Noble BKS, Tuesday Morning TUES and Pacific Sunwear of California (PSUN). Tech Earnings The world's third-largest PC vendor is expected to say Tuesday that for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 it had earnings of $0.45 per share. That would be down from the $0.50 per share that Dell reported in the same period a year ago. In the previous two quarters, Dell fell short of consensus EPS estimates by a penny or three per share. Analysts on average expect second-quarter revenues to total $14.6 billion, or 6.3 percent lower than in the year-ago quarter. Revenue decreased in the first quarter, following a rise in the first quarter. Hewlett-Packard, Dell's larger competitor, is expected to report that its fiscal third quarter profit fell 10.9 percent year-over-year to $0.98 per share. That EPS estimate inched up a penny per share in the past 30 days. Analysts have underestimated HP's EPS in the past seven quarters. The Palo Alto, California-based company, like Dell, has faced dwindling PC sales, and analysts on average expect revenue for the quarter to total $30.1 billion. That would be a year-over-year decrease of 3.5 percent. The company is scheduled to share its quarterly results late Wednesday. Year-over-year earnings and revenue growth are anticipated from Autodesk ADSK, Intuit INTU, Salesforce.com CRM and Synopsys SNPS. But the consensus forecasts for Analog Devices ADI and Semtech SMTC call for a decline in per-share earnings. Trina Solar TSL is expected to post a net loss. Others In its Thursday report, Hormel Foods HRL, primarily a producer of meat products, is expected offer up earnings of $0.41 per share for its fiscal third quarter. That would be an increase from $0.36 a share in the same period of last year. That consensus EPS estimate is unchanged in the past 60 days. Hormel has not fallen short of consensus EPS estimates in more than ten quarters. Analysts expect third-quarter revenues to total $2.0 billion, which would be 5.1 percent higher than a year ago. Madison Square Garden MSG, Medtronic MDT and Patterson Companies PDCO are projected to report earnings growth when they step into the earnings spotlight this week. EPS from Krispy Kreme Doughnuts KKD is expected to be about the same as a year ago. However, Lancaster Colony LANC is expected to say that its earnings in the most recent quarter were lower than a year ago. Also look for reports the following week from H.J. Heinz HNZ, Tiffany TIF and others.