Earnings Expectations for the Week of June 25 (MON, NKE, GIS)

This week, General Mills, Monsanto and Nike will step into the earnings spotlight. All three of these companies are forecast to report earnings growth. Below is a day-by-day rundown of what analysts expect from the week's most prominent quarterly reports.

Monday

Apollo Group APOL, an operator of for-profit educational institutions, is expected to post a third-quarter profit of $0.97 per share. Those results would be about one-third lower than those of the same period of last year. Investors might note that the company's earnings per share (EPS) have beat consensus forecasts for the previous ten quarters. So far, analysts' full year forecast calls for lower EPS and revenues, compared to the previous year.

SYNNEX SNX is expected to have higher EPS year-over-year.

Tuesday

The consensus forecast for Kansas City, Mo.-based H&R Block HRB calls for a fourth-quarter profit of $2.05 per share on revenues of $2.0 billion. The company's fourth quarter included tax season. A year prior, the company posted $2.14 per share earnings and $2.3 billion in revenues. Note that 60 days ago the EPS estimate was $2.19, and that the company missed EPS estimates in three of the past four quarters.

In addition, analysts predict that Robbins & Myers RBN will report higher quarterly EPS than those of the previous year. Analysts also expect AeroVironment AVAV to report quarterly EPS lower than they were a year ago and LDK Solar LDK to report a net quarterly loss.

Wednesday

St. Louis-based agribusiness giant Monsanto MON is expected to report third-quarter 2012 earnings of $1.60 per share. This estimate is higher than the $1.30 EPS estimate from 60 days ago. Also, actual earnings per share of $1.60 would be up from $1.26 in the same period last year. Analysts on average expect revenues to be 11.3% higher year-over-year, reaching $4.0 billion.

General Mills GIS, the maker of Lucky Charms, Häagen-Dazs and many other food products, is expected to announce that its fourth-quarter earnings came to $0.59 per share on revenues of $4.1 billion. That would be up from $0.52 per share and $3.6 billion, respectively, in the same period of last year. For the full year, analyst expect General Mills' EPS to rise 2.4% year-over-year to $2.54. In addition, analysts expect the company to report sales of $16.7 billion, up 12.1% year-over-year.

Wednesday morning, spice maker McCormick MKC is expected to report that its second-quarter EPS and revenues were higher than a year ago. Analysts expect to see earnings growth from Lindsay LNN and UniFirst UNF as well.

Thursday

Fourth-quarter fiscal 2012 earnings for Nike NKE are forecast to come to $1.37 per share, while revenues total $6.5 billion. In the same quarter of last year, the world's leading supplier of athletic footwear posted $1.24 per share and $5.8 billion. Note that analysts have underestimated the company's earnings per share in all but one of the past ten quarters. Analysts' full-year consensus forecast places Nike's EPS 10.9% higher to $4.93 and sales up 15.6% to $24.1 billion.

Variety store chain operator Family Dollar Stores FDO is expected to report third-quarter fiscal 2012 earnings of $1.07, up 14.9% from a year ago. That estimate is two pennies higher than the consensus analyst estimate 60 days ago. Moreover, analysts anticipate that Nike's revenues will be up 10.2% from year ago to $2.4 billion.

Dublin-based business services company Accenture ACN is expected to report year-over-year growth of earnings and revenues. EPS from AZZ AZZ and MSC Industrial Direct MSM are forecast to be higher as well, while those from American Greetings AM, Schnitzer Steel SCHN and Worthington Industries WOR are expected to have declined. Smith & Wesson's SWHC EPS are predicted to be the same as a year ago.

Friday

Analysts predict that Constellation Brands STZ, the world's largest wine producer, will report first-quarter earnings of $0.39 per share. These EPS expectations are the same as actual EPS were a year ago. Also, these EPS expectations are unchanged over the past 60 days, and the company has exceeded EPS estimates in most recent quarters. Quarterly revenues are forecast to be 1.7% higher than a year ago to $645.5 million.

Also on Friday, homebuilder KB Home KBH is expected to post a net loss.

The new earnings season begins July 9 with the second-quarter report from Alcoa AA.