Earnings Expectations for the Week of November 5

The focus this week naturally will be on the presidential election and the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. But on the earnings front, it is time for retailers to begin stepping into the spotlight. Here is a peak at what analysts expect to see from retailers for the period leading up to the holiday shopping season. CVS Caremark CVS. The consensus forecast calls this Rhode Island-based drug store operator to post third-quarter earnings of $0.84 per share, up from $0.70 EPS in the year-ago period. That consensus estimate is unchanged in the past 60 days. And analysts see revenue rising more than 12 percent year-over-year to $30.09 billion. Look for CVS's report Tuesday before the opening bell. JCPenney JCP. Analysts on average anticipate this beleaguered retailer will say Friday morning that it swung to a net loss of $0.05 per share in the third quarter, compared with a profit of $0.11 per share a year ago. Revenue is predicted to have fallen more than 17 percent to $3.29 billion. Note that the Texas-based department store operator posted larger-than-expected net losses in the previous two quarters. Kohl's KSS. The fourth largest U.S. department store operator by sales is expected to post $0.87 per share earnings and sales of $4.49 billion for the third quarter. That would be up from $0.80 per share and $4.38 billion in revenue in the same period of last year. Note that its EPS have not fallen short of consensus estimates in the past five quarters. Kohl's is scheduled to share its results Thursday morning. Macy's M. Analysts on average expect this Cincinnati-based department store operator to report Wednesday morning that its per-share earnings fell by about 10 percent to $0.29 and its revenue totaled $6.07 billion, which would be up about three percent from the third quarter of last year. Note that Macy's has exceeded consensus EPS estimates in the past eight quarters. Nordstrom JWN. Third-quarter earnings from this Seattle-based fashion retailer are expected to come to $0.72 per share, or about 18 percent higher year-over year. That EPS estimate is up from $0.70 in the past 90 days. Analysts are also looking for revenue to be more than 17 percent higher to $2.80 billion. Nordstrom is on tap to report Thursday after the closing bell. Whole Foods Market WFM. The consensus forecast for the fiscal fourth quarter calls for EPS growth of about 30 percent to $0.60 and sales up more than 23 percent to $2.91 billion. For the full year, analysts are looking for EPS growth of more than 23 percent to $2.52 on revenue that is more than 15 percent higher to $11.70 billion. Whole Foods reports Wednesday afternoon. Also, specialty retailers Office Depot ODP and Office Max OMX are due to report results this week, and analysts anticipate their EPS will be about the same as a year ago. EPS from Advance Auto Parts AAP are expected to have declined year-over-year while sales were flat. Look for quarterly results from Abercrombie & Fitch ANF, Home Depot HD, Target TGT, Walmart WMT and more retailers the following week. Other prominent earnings reports due this week include the following: On Monday, analysts expect that EPS from Express Scripts ESRX and Time Warner Cable TWC will be more than 20 percent higher than a year ago. DirecTV DTV and News Corp. NWSA report Tuesday, and they are expected to offer up double-digit percentage growth in EPS as well. Mondelēz International MDLZ and Kraft Foods KRFT are on tap Wednesday, their first quarterly reports since the company was split up. Media companies CBS CBS and Time Warner TWX are expected to show year-over-year EPS growth, though revenue for the latter is predicted to have slipped. Brewer Molson Coors TAP is expected to report strong revenue growth. On Thursday, look for earnings reports from Lions Gate Entertainment LGF and Walt Disney DIS. The consensus forecasts call for the former to have swung to a profit from a year-ago loss, and for EPS and revenue growth for both the fiscal fourth quarter and the full year from the latter.