Swarm Of Retailer Earnings Upcoming: News So Far Mixed

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

the big daddy of retailers reports results Thursday but it's just one in a swarm of companies the sector coming up to the earnings plate in the next 10 days. So far big news from the sector include a major earnings miss from Amazon Inc.

and slightly better-than expected results from Coach Inc.

. Monthly growth in retail sales excluding autos has been running at about 2 percent since March, while the Thomson Reuters same-store sales index is expected to show average growth of 1.3 percent in the second quarter compared with 1.6 percent a year earlier. While the big picture suggests little to cheer about, the retail segment of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

last week posted a 19.7 percent gain in earnings to $91 million on a 7 percent revenue increase to $1.07 billion. The segment includes a furniture division, jewelry businesses, See's Candies and other operations. An exchange-traded fund in the sector, Merrill Lynch Retail Holders,

, is up 62 percent in the year to date. Wal-Mart is expected to post an earning decline Thursday of 2.4 percent to $1.21 a share on revenue growth of 2 percent to $118.98 billion from a year earlier. The company missed expectations for its April quarter by more than 4 percent, although a fierce winter was largely to blame. On Wednesday, Macy's

is expected to post earnings of $0.86 a share on revenue of $6.3 billion. The company beat expectations in the first quarter by 1.7 percent. Target Corp.

slated to report Aug. 20, is expected to post earnings of $081 cents a share on sales of $17.4 billion. For the April quarter, Target missed top-line expectations by 1.4 percent Other dates to mark in the retail earnings calendar include: •Fossil Group, Inc.

Aug. 12 •J. C. Penney Company, Inc.

Aug. 14 •Nordstrom

Aug 14 •Kohl's Corp.

Aug. 14 •Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ; URBN) Aug. 18 •Home Depot, Inc.

Aug. 19 •TJX Companies, Inc.

Aug. 19 •L Brands, Inc.

Aug. 20 •Lowe's Cos.

Aug. 20 •Dollar Tree, Inc.

Aug. 21 •GameStop Corp.

Aug. 21 •Gap Inc.

Aug. 21