Oracle, Rite Aid Highlight Slow Earnings Week

As the year begins to wind to a close, it will be another quite one on the earnings front, especially early in the week.

Among the most prominent quarterly reports on tap is the one from FedEx. Wall Street is looking for solid top and bottom line growth here. Expectations are mixed, though, for the latest results from BlackBerry, Oracle and Rite Aid, also due this week.

Here is a quick look at what is expected from these reports and a peek at some of the week's other most anticipated quarterly results.

Related Link: Investors Are Fleeing Small-Caps In Record Numbers, Piling Into Technology

BlackBerry

Wall Street's fiscal third-quarter forecast for this iconic tech company calls for a net loss of $0.15 per share. That compares with earnings per share (EPS) $0.01 posted a year ago. However, 80 Estimize respondents predict the loss will be $0.13. Note that net losses were deeper than expected in the most recent two periods.

Revenue also has fallen short of consensus forecasts in the past few periods. Estimize is looking for $492.28 million in this week's report, which is somewhat more optimistic than the $487.92 million that Wall Street expects. BlackBerry is scheduled to release its results Friday before the open of regular trading.

FedEx

In its report late Wednesday, this transportation and business services provider is expected to report that its per-share earnings came to $2.56 for the three months that ended in November, according the consensus of 43 Estimize estimates. That would be up from $2.16 per share in the year-ago period.

Revenue is projected to total $12.44 billion for the fiscal second quarter, which would be around 4 percent higher, relative to the same period of last year. Note that Estimize and Wall Street analysts both underestimated FedEx's revenue in the previous period.

Oracle

This software giant will post EPS of $0.61 for its fiscal second quarter, if Estimize's consensus forecast is accurate. But, Oracle posted $0.69 per share in the year-ago period. The Wall Street EPS forecast is a penny less, though the analysts see sequential EPS growth in the current quarter.

The 90 Estimize survey respondents believe revenue for the three months that ended in November will be about $9.11 billion. Wall Street is a little more pessimistic here too, with a $9.06 billion consensus estimate. Watch for Oracle to post its latest financial results after Wednesday's closing bell.

Rite Aid

When this specialty retailer reports results early Thursday, the consensus forecast of Wall Street analysts is that it will show a profit of $0.06 per share for the fiscal third quarter. That would compare to the $0.10 EPS in the same period of last year, as well as the $0.02 reported in the previous period.

However, the company's revenue for the three months that ended in November will be $8.18 billion, or up more than 22 percent year-over-year, if Wall Street expectations are correct. Note that both Wall Street and Estimize underestimated Rite Aid's sharp rise in revenue back in the second quarter.

Related Link: Major Pharma Group Outlook In 2016: Fundamentals To Outweigh Political Headwinds

And Others

This week, at least some growth on the bottom line is coming from Accenture, CarMax, Darden Restaurants, General Mills, Jabil Circuit, Lennar, Navistar International and Red Hat, if Wall Street analysts hit the nail on the head.

However, their consensus forecasts call for declining earnings when Joy Global and Pier 1 Imports step up and share their latest results.

Watch for upcoming earnings reports from Nike and Micron Technology before Christmas.