JC Penney, Kohl's, Nordstrom: More Mixed Earnings Expectations For Department Store Giants

The holiday shopping season was disappointing for many retailers, and it showed in the mixed earnings report released by Macy's Inc M early Tuesday.

Three more leading department store operators are expected to share their latest quarterly results this week as well, and overall the expectations are mixed.

Analysts predict both the top and bottom line figures at Kohl's Corporation KSS will be smaller than a year ago, for the period when sales were worse than low expectations.

Meanwhile, J C Penney Company Inc JCP and Nordstrom, Inc. JWN are expected to offer up mixed results, compared to the same period of last year. This for the period when the former remained a favorite of short sellers and analysts were cautious on the latter in the short term.

Below is a quick look at what's expected from the results from these three, as well as a peek at some of the other upcoming quarterly reports from retailers.

J.C. Penney

The fiscal fourth-quarter profit of this Texas-based company is anticipated to come in at $0.61 per share, which would be about a 36 percent gain from the year-ago period, according to Wall Street analysts. The consensus of 54 Estimize respondents has earnings pegged at a penny more per share. Note that bottom line results have been better than expected in five of the past six quarters.

In Friday morning's report, analysts also are looking for $3.98 billion in revenue for the three months that ended in January, about the same as Estimize predicts but down fractionally from the number posted in the year-ago period. Both Wall Street and Estimize overestimated top line results in the past three periods.

See also: Why Street Sentiment On Best Buy May Depend On Apple

Kohl's

The consensus Wall Street forecast calls for this Wisconsin-based retailer to post fiscal fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1.33 (down almost 16 percent from in the same period of last year) but for revenue to have slipped less than 3 percent to $6.22 billion. Note that analysts underestimated results in the prior two quarters. Also, the EPS projection just 60 days ago was up at $1.64.

Estimize is a little more optimistic on the bottom line, with the consensus of 22 respondents pegging EPS at $1.36. Revenue of $6.20 billion also is predicted for the three months that ended in January. EPS results in the previous two quarters beat Estimize estimates by more than a dime. Kohl's is scheduled to share its latest results before trading commences on Thursday.

Nordstrom

In its report after Thursday's closing bell, this Seattle-based department store operator is expected to say it had per-share earnings of $1.16 in its fiscal fourth quarter, according to Estimize. That's a penny more than the Wall Street consensus estimate and would be down from $1.17 per share a year ago. Note that Nordstrom exceeded EPS estimates by almost 40 percent in the previous quarter.

Estimize narrowly underestimated revenue in the prior quarter, after four periods of overestimates. This time the 27 respondents are looking for $4.36 billion. That is about the same as what Wall Street anticipates. Either forecast would be up from the $4.19 billion reported in the year-ago period. Looking ahead, Wall Street anticipates top and bottom line growth in the current quarter.

And Others

Other retailers that are anticipated to report earnings gains this week include Foot Locker and TJX Companies. But if the analysts are correct, earnings at Chico's FAS, Gap, HSN, L Brands and Sprouts Farmers Market will be smaller than a year ago. And a net loss is predicted for Wayfair.

Looking ahead to the following week, results are expected from retailers Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters, Barnes & Nobel, Best Buy, Costco, Kroger, Lowe's, Office Depot, Target and many other companies.