Earnings Expectations for the Week of February 27

On the heels of last week's quarterly results from Walmart WMT, Home Depot HD, Macy's M and many other retailers, this week will bring more earnings reports from shopping mall and strip mall standbys. Auto parts and accessories purveyor AutoZone AZO is expected to say Tuesday that its fiscal second-quarter earnings are 17.3% higher than a year ago to $4.04 per share. That estimate is up from $4.00 some 60 days ago. And revenues for the quarter are expected to have risen 7.0% to $1.8 billion. Analysts have underestimated AutoZone's EPS for more than ten quarters. Fourth-quarter earnings from Big Lots BIG are estimated to come to $1.73 per share on revenues of $1.7 billion. In the same quarter of last year, the Columbus, Ohio-based closeout store operator posted $1.66 per share and $1.5 billion. The full-year forecast has earnings up 4.4% to $2.96 per share and revenues 4.6% higher to $5.2 billion in Thursday's report. The EPS forecasts for both the quarter and the year have risen about a dime over the past 60 days. Analysts expect Costco Wholesale's COST fiscal second-quarter EPS will have risen eight cents year over year to $0.87 per share. But that is down a penny from the consensus forecast 60 days ago. And Costco has not topped EPS expectations in the past four quarters. The revenue forecast for the quarter calls for $22.8 billion, or 9.2% higher than in the same period of last year. See also: Walmart Q4 Net Income Declines 15% In Thursday's report, earnings from Foot Locker FL are estimated to come to $0.51 per share for the fourth quarter and $1.77 per share for the full year. That would be a year-over-year rise from $0.39 and $1.10, respectively. Quarterly revenues are expected to total $1.5 billion, up 7.1%, as well as $5.6 billion for the year, or 10.9% higher. Analysts have underestimated EPS from this New York-based footwear retailer for the past six quarters. Cincinnati-based supermarket store operator Kroger's KR fourth-quarter earnings are forecast to be up three cents from a year ago to $0.49 per share. For the full-year, $2.00 EPS are predicted, or a 12.0% increase from the previous year. Both EPS estimates are the same as 60 days ago. Also, revenues are expected to be up 7.6% to $21.4 billion for the quarter and 10.0% higher to $90.4 billion for the full year. The consensus forecast for big-box home improvement store operator Lowe's Companies LOW calls for $0.24 per share earnings and revenues of $11.3 billion. That would be up from $0.21 and $10.5 billion in the fourth quarter of the previous year. Full-year earnings are predicted to be 11.1% higher to $1.62 per share and revenues to be up 2.2% to $49.9 billion in Monday's report. Analysts' forecasts have been within a penny or three of EPS results in the past eight quarters, but Lowe's fell short in one of those quarters. See also: Home Depot Rises on Strong Q4 Results On Wednesday, Staples SPLS is expected to say that its fourth-quarter earnings totaled $0.40 per share on revenues of $6.5 billion. That would be up marginally from $0.39 and $6.4 billion in the same period of last year. Full-year earnings also are predicted to be a dime per share higher to $1.37 on revenues that are about the same as a year ago, or near $25 billion. Note that Staples fell short of EPS expectations in two of the past six quarters. See also: OfficeMax Numbers Are Far From Stationary Ascena Retail Group ASNA (formerly Dress Barn), auto dealer Copart CPRT and Domino's Pizza DPZ also are scheduled to report this week, and analysts are looking for EPS growth from them. But Collective Brands PSS, the footwear retailer, is expected to report a fourth-quarter net loss. Here is a peek at what analysts expect from some other S&P 500 components reporting this week:

• Cablevision Systems CVC: Q4 EPS down 43.9% to $0.23 and sales down 10.0% to $1.7 billion
• CenterPoint Energy CNP: Q4 EPS down 9.5% to $0.19 and sales up 19.4% to $2.5 billion
• Ecolab ECL: Q4 EPS up 14.3% to $0.70 and sales up 24.5% to $1.9 billion
• Edison International EIX: Q4 EPS down 22.4% to $0.45 and sales up 3.8% to $3.2 billion
• El Paso EP: Q4 EPS up 31.0% to $0.29 and sales up 37.3% to $1.4 billion
• FirstEnergy FE: Q4 EPS up 6.6% to $0.76 and sales up 61.3% to $5.2 billion
• Integrys Energy TEG: Q4 EPS up 6.6% to $0.98 and sales up 35.0% to $1.7 billion
• Joy Global JOY: Q1 EPS up 28.9% to $1.35 and sales up 33.0% to $1.2 billion
• NRG Energy NRG: Q4 net loss of $0.49 per share and sales up 84.0% to $3.3 billion
• Priceline.com PCLN: Q4 EPS up 32.7% to $5.05 and sales up 32.4% to $967.9 million
• Sempra Energy SRE: Q4 EPS down 10.2% to $1.06 and sales up 8.1% to $2.6 billion
• Southwestern Energy SWN: Q4 EPS up 32.7% to $0.47 and sales up 59.0% to $763.5 million
• Tenet Healthcare THC: Q4 EPS up 28.6% to $0.14 and sales up 4.5% to $2.4 billion