Earnings Preview For Aug 25 - 29

The final week of August will feature earnings reports from S&P 500 members Big Lots (BIG), Dell (DELL), Novell (NOVL), Sears Holding (SHLD) and Tiffany (TIF). Overall, it will be a quiet week for earnings with 77 companies confirmed to report.

The economic schedule is pretty full, led by the minutes from the August Fed meeting. I don’t anticipate any surprises from the notes. Other key data will include:

• Monday: July existing home sales
• Tuesday: July new home sales, August Conference Board consumer confidence index, August Fed minutes
• Wednesday: July durable goods orders, weekly crude inventories
• Thursday: Preliminary second-quarter GDP, weekly initial jobless claims
• Thursday: July personal income and spending, August Chicago PMI, revised August University of Michigan consumer confidence

The Federal Reserve’s web site does not list any upcoming speeches.

The U.S. financial markets will be closed on Monday, Sep 1, in observance of Labor Day. Ahead of the holiday, I expect volume to remain modest, at best.

Don’t use the quiet markets as an excuse to stop researching new investment ideas. The most successful investors look for new ideas everyday and so should you.

Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises during the Week of Aug 25 - 29

A trend towards thriftiness has helped Big Lots (BIG). The closeout retailer preannounced a 1.9% increase in sales to $1.096 billion. Same-store sales rose 2.8%. Nearly all of the covering brokerage analysts raised their second-quarter forecasts in response, pushing the consensus earnings estimate four cents higher to 27 cents per share. BIG has topped expectations for 9 consecutive quarters. Big Lots is scheduled to report on Tuesday, Aug 26, before the start of trading.

Dollar Tree (DLTR) preannounced second-quarter sales of $1.09 billion, a 12.5% increase over a year prior. Same-store sales rose 6.5%. The majority of the 9 covering brokerage analysts responded with revised profit projections. These revisions led to a 4-cent increase in the consensus earnings estimate to 40 cents. DLTR has exceeded expectations for 3 consecutive quarters. Dollar Tree is scheduled to report on Wednesday, Aug 27, before the start of trading.

Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises during the Week of Aug 25 - 29

Last quarter, Omnivision Technologies (OVTI) missed earnings expectations by 3 cents with profits of 17 cents per share. Brokerage analysts are bracing for another disappointing earnings report. During the past 30 days, 5 of the 9 covering analysts cut their fiscal first-quarter projections. These cuts have led to a 3-cent drop in the consensus earnings estimate to 16 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is more bearish at 15 cents per share. Omnivision Technologies is scheduled to report on Thursday, Aug 28, after the close of trading.

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