Next Week's Must See Earnings On Deck (LOW, HD, WMT, TGT, AMAT, DRYS, DLTR, GME, SHLD, DELL, CRM)

So much for thinking that earnings season was over.  Next week we have a another round  of earnings, with the big focus being retail mixed with some technology earnings.  On deck is Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) and larger rival The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD).  We also have DJIA component Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) due with earnings Tuesday morning, and others reporting next week are Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT), Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS), Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR), Gamestop Corporation (NYSE: GME), Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM).

Monday morning will be Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW). Thomson Reuters has estimates for the home improvement retailer of $0.30 EPS and $11.76 billion in revenue; next quarter estimates are $0.18 EPS and $10.48 billion in revenue.  Shares are trading around $22.00 and the 52-week range is $19.35 to $28.54.  The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) is on deck Tuesday morning and Thomson Reuters has estimates for the larger home improvement retail destination of $0.48 EPS and $16.61 billion in revenue; next quarter estimates are $0.25 EPS and $14.65 billion in revenue. Shares are trading around $31.60 and the 52-week range is $26.35 to $37.03.  As you can see, both are in the lower-half of their 52-week trading bands.  As the housing market improvement keeps getting kicked down the road, expectations here are low.  Home Depot’s market cap is $52.6 billion versus $30.7 billion for Lowe’s.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) will be the week’s second DJIA.  Thomson Reuters has estimates for the world’s largest retailer of $0.90 EPS and $102.4 billion in revenue; next quarter estimates for the important Christmas quarter are $1.28 EPS and $117.55 billion in revenue.  Shares are trading around $54.00 and the 52-week range is $47.77 to $56.27.

Target Corporation earnings are due Wednesday morning.  Thomson Reuters has estimates for the retailer of $0.68 EPS and $15.61 billion in revenue; next quarter estimates for the important holiday season are $1.39 EPS and $20.9 billion in revenue.  Shares are trading around $54.00 and the 52-week range is $45.11 to $58.52.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) is due with its earnings Wednesday afternoon.  Thomson Reuters has estimates for the semiconductor equipment maker of $0.31 EPS on $2.59 billion in revenue; next quarter’s estimates call for $2.63 billion in revenue.  Shares are trading around $12.65 and the 52-week range is $10.27 to $14.94.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) is far from a market-moving stock.   Earnings come next Wednesday after the close.  Thomson Reuters has estimates for the volatile Greek shipper of $0.25 EPS and $216.9 million in revenue; next quarter estimates are $0.23 EPS and $217.05 million in revenue.  The risk is what feels like never-ending dilution as it keeps selling shares.  Shares are trading around $5.35 after a 5% drop Friday morning and the 52-week range is $3.28 to $7.30.

Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) is due with earnings on Thursday morning.  Thomson Reuters has estimates for the dollar store giant of $0.62 EPS and $1.38 billion in revenue; next quarter estimates are $1.72 billion in revenue.  Shares are trading around $53.40 and the 52-week range is $31.06 to $54.69.

Gamestop Corporation (NYSE: GME) is due Thursday morning.  Thomson Reuters has estimates for the video game retail destination shop of $0.37 EPS and $1.94 billion in revenue; next quarter estimates for the highly important Christmas season are $ EPS and $3.69 billion in revenue.  Keep in mind that the latest record-breaking Call of Duty game just came out this week, and that will only be reflected in guidance.  The other two issues are that some select games are starting to be made available by download only to get around the retail outlets, but the larger and more widespread and immediate issue is that $1.00 games via all the apps for smartphones have been a thorn for the video game sector when the consoles are all established and fixed now.  Shares are trading around $21.00 and the 52-week range is $17.12 to $26.05.

Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SLD) is due Thursday morning.  Thomson Reuters has estimates for the permanently turning around retail giant of -$1.07 EPS and $9.95 billion in revenue; next quarter estimates for the important Christmas quarter are $13.03 billion in revenue.  Shares are trading around $70.00 and the 52-week range is $59.21 to $125.42.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is up for earnings Thursday after the close.  Thomson Reuters has estimates for the troubled PC-maker of $0.32 EPS and $15.74 billion in revenue; next quarter estimates are $0.35 EPS and $16.28 billion in revenue.  Shares are trading around $13.60 and the 52-week range is $11.34 to $17.52.  Dell shares have been stuck for long enough and the environment for its report is tepid at best as analysts have an average price target of close to $15.50.  There is still much here for deep value investors, but there is little for growth investors.

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) is due with earnings Thursday after the close.  This is another company which will not move the markets but it is often very volatile after earnings and is actively traded on news days.  Thomson Reuters has estimates for the enterprise software and SaaS provider of $0.31 EPS and $410.33 million in revenue; next quarter estimates are $0.28 EPS and $424.65 million in revenue.  Shares are trading around $115 and the 52-week range is $60.30 to $123.77.

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JON C. OGG