3 Earnings To Bring This Season To A Close

The month of March and the calendar quarter come to a close in this holiday-shortened week, and things will be very quiet on the earnings front.

The only three quarterly reports of note will come from CarMax, Inc KMX, Micron Technology, Inc. MU and Monsanto Company MON. Consensus forecasts call for strong results from just one of these three companies. Below is a quick look at what analysts are looking for from these reports, as well as some of this week's other most prominent earnings reports.

The first-quarter earnings season does not kick off until Alcoa Inc AA steps into the spotlight the following week. Below we also take an early peek at what analysts are looking for there, as well as what else is coming up as the new reporting season gets underway.

CarMax

The fiscal fourth-quarter forecast for this used car retailer from seven estimates from Estimize calls for earnings per share (EPS) that grew from $0.52 in the year-ago period to $0.62. Also, revenues for the three months that ended in February are expected to have climbed more than 12 percent to $3.52 billion.

Wall Street's full-year earnings estimate is $2.60 per share, which would be a gain of more than 13 percent from the previous year. The anticipated revenue of $14.27 billion would be more than 13 percent higher too. Look for CarMax to release its results Thursday before the regular trading session begins.

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Micron Technology

The consensus of 29 Estimize estimates for this maker of semiconductor and memory products calls for a profit of $0.79 per share and for revenue to total $4.19 billion for its fiscal second quarter, when it reports late Thursday. That would compare to $0.85 EPS and revenue of $4.11 billion in the same period of last year.

Note that analysts have overestimated Micron Technology's per-share earnings by between about 1 percent and up to almost 13 percent in the past four quarters. Looking ahead, sequential and year-over-year growth on the top and bottom lines is predicted for the current period.

Monsanto

When it shares its results first thing Wednesday, this agricultural products giant is expected to say its earnings for the most recent quarter came in at $2.92 a share, a consensus of 17 estimates. That would be down from $3.15 per share in the year-ago quarter. Note that the Estimize estimates vary from $2.36 to $3.17 per share.

The Estimize forecast for Monsanto also calls for revenue to be marginally lower than a year ago to $5.78 billion for the fiscal second quarter. Looking ahead to the current quarter, so far revenue is expected to be up by a double-digit percentage, while EPS also shows strong growth from a year ago.

And Others

Analysts also are looking for earnings growth this week from the following:

• AZZ
• Acuity Brands
• Cal-Maine Foods
• SYNNEX
• UniFirst

EPS at AAR are expected to be the same as in the year-ago quarter, while the consensus forecasts for the following call for shrinking earnings:

• Conns
• Movado
• Ocwen Financial
• Petrobras
• Progress Software

Note that both Ocwen Financial and Petrobras have had reporting issues recently, and their reporting dates were unconfirmed at last check.

In addition, quarterly net losses are forecast for GOL Intelligent Airlines, NovaGold Resources and RGS Energy, when they share their most recent results this week.

Alcoa

This leading global aluminum producer will post $0.30 EPS for its first quarter, if the consensus of 19 Estimize estimates is accurate. That would be up from $0.09 per share in the same period of last year. Note that earnings easily exceeded Wall Street's expectations in the past four quarters.

Revenue for the three months that ended in March is predicted to have climbed from $5.45 billion in the year-ago quarter to $6.12 billion. Wall Street expects sequential and year-on-year growth on both the top and bottom lines in the current period. Watch for Alcoa's report on April 8.

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Also Coming Up

Retailers Bed Bath & Beyond, Pier 1 Imports, Rite Aid and Walgreens Boots Alliance are also scheduled to share their most recent fiscal quarterly results in the same week as Alcoa, and earnings growth is anticipated from most of them. Family Dollar may post its most recent results as well, though its report date is so far unconfirmed.

The new earnings season ramps up in mid-April, with the first-quarter reports due from big banks Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo, as well as from General Electric, Intel, Johnson & Johnson and many more.

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