High Expectations for Nike Earnings, Not So Much For General Mills

Fiscal third-quarter reports from a couple of popular consumer goods producers will be among the highlights in another overall quiet week on the

front. The fourth-quarter reporting season is all but over, and the new earnings season is a few weeks away yet. Wall Street analysts expect solid results from leading athletic footwear and accessories maker

, judging by the consensus forecast. The same cannot be said for iconic packaged foods giant

. Below is a quick look at what is expected from the reports of General Mills and Nike. That is followed by a quick peek at some of the week's other most prominent earnings reports.

Wall Street's consensus forecast for this Minneapolis -based maker of Cheerios and Hamburger Helper calls for earnings per share (EPS) to have slipped eight cents from the year-ago period to $0.62. The consensus of 18 Estimize respondents sees a penny more, though both Estimize and Wall Street underestimated EPS in most recent quarters. The Wall Street estimate has not changed in the past 60 days. Both Wall Street and Estimize predict that revenue will come in around $4.1 billion, which would be about 6 percent lower than in the same period of last year, and also the lowest quarterly revenue in the past two years. The company is scheduled to report its results before the opening bell on Wednesday.

When this Beaverton, Oregon-based company shares its results late Tuesday, the Wall Street forecast is that it will post EPS of $0.49 for the most recent quarter. That would be up from $0.45 per share in the same period of last year, and here too the consensus of Estimize respondents calls for a penny more per share. However, both Wall Street and Estimize have underestimated earnings in recent periods. Revenue for the three months that ended in February will total $8.2 billion, which would be almost 10 percent higher year over year, if the Wall Street analysts and the consensus of 260 Estimize estimates is correct. Note that revenue results fell short of the estimates in the previous period.

Accenture, Centene, GameStop, KB Home, Mobile TeleSystems, Red Hat and Signet Jewelers are among the other companies that Wall Street analysts expect to show earnings growth this week. The consensus forecast calls for EPS at Steelcase to be the same as in the year-ago period. Earnings declines are in the works for Eldorado Gold, Finish Line and PVH, as well as a net loss for Petrobras, if the Wall Street predictions are correct.

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