Earnings Expectations for the Week of August 8

The focus this week, at least initially, will no doubt be on the effect of the downgrade of U.S. debt. But there will be plenty more earnings as well, including reports from Walt Disney DIS, News Corp. NWS, Cisco Systems CSCO and Aol AOL. The parade of retail earnings begins this week also with reports from JCPenney JCP, Kohl's KSS, Macy's M and Nordstrom JWN on tap. Three of these four are expected to post year-over-year earnings growth (see details below). More retail earnings are scheduled to follow next week, including Home Depot HD and Walmart WMT. But here is a day-by-day rundown of some of the most anticipated quarterly reports of this week. Monday Here is a peek at how analysts expect the earnings week to begin:

• Markel MKL: EPS up 40.9% to $3.88
• CareFusion CFN: EPS up 24.0% to $0.50
• Tower Group TWGP: EPS up 8.1% to $0.62
• Dollar Thrifty Automotive DTG: EPS up 8.0% to $1.37
• Scotts Miracle Gro SMG: EPS down 15.7% to $2.20
• Tyson Foods TSN: EPS down 38.8% to $0.41

Tuesday Walt Disney DIS and Aol AOL are among Tuesday's highlights. Analysts are looking for the house that the mouse built to report per-share earnings of $0.73 and revenues of $10.5 billion, which is an increase from $0.67 and $10.0 billion a year ago. But the story looks very different for Aol: the consensus forecast calls for only $0.04 per share earnings (down 93.9%) and revenues of $530.4 million (down 9.2%). Both Aol and Disney fell short of analyst estimates in the previous quarter. Like Aol, watchmaker Fossil FOSL and James River Coal JRCC are forecast to post smaller earnings, and homebuilder Beazer Homes USA BZH is expected to post another net loss, its fifth consecutive quarterly loss. But here are some more of the day's anticipated earnings gainers:

• Cablevision CVC: EPS up 54.5% to $0.44
• Coca-Cola Bottling COKE: EPS up 9.7% to $1.44
• Dish Network DISH: EPS up 27.8% to $0.79
• International Flavors & Fragrances IFF: EPS up 11.5% to $0.96
• Ralcorp RAH: EPS up 4.3% to $1.15
• Rovi ROVI: EPS up 5.2% to $0.58
• Scripps Networks Interactive SNI: EPS up 18.1% to $0.72
• Sempra Energy SRE: EPS up 10.1% to $0.99
• URS URS: EPS up 16.5% to $0.91

Wednesday Analysts anticipate good news from Macy's M and Polo Ralph Lauren RL: per-share earnings are forecast to be 28.6% higher year over year for the former and 16.6% higher for the latter. But expectations are lower for Cisco Systems CSCO, EPS down 11.6%, and Computer Sciences CSC, EPS down 24.1%. However, revenues for both tech companies are expected to be slightly higher than a year ago. Earnings for Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. NWS are expected to be the same as a year ago: $0.30 per share. But look for double-digit earnings growth from Advance Auto Parts AAP, Harman International HAR and Ultra Petroleum UPL, as well as an anticipated earnings decline from Johnson Outdoors JOUT. Thursday More retail earnings are on deck Thursday: Kohl's KSS is expected to post per-share earnings of $1.02 and revenues of $4.3 billion, a year-over-year increase from $0.84 and $4.1 billion. And Nordstrom JWN is expected to report earnings of $0.74 per share on revenues of $2.7 billion, compared to $0.66 and $2.4 billion a year ago. Note that consensus estimates for both have been within a few cents of actual results in recent quarters. The consensus forecast also calls for earnings growth from:

• DeVry DV: EPS up 3.9% to $1.03
• Nvidia NVDA: EPS up 88.0% to $0.25
• Sara Lee SLE: EPS up 5.0% to $0.20

Gaming company Bally Technologies BYI earnings are expected to be about the same as a year ago, but with revenues up about 4%. Friday JCPenney JCP brings a close to the week in earnings with anticipated results about the same as a year ago. That is, earnings of $0.06 per share and revenues of $3.9 billion. Note though that analysts underestimated JCPenney earnings in the past four quarters.