The week ahead is going to have many key earnings reports. Retail is heavily represented, while technology and banking giants are non-existent. Some of these are stocks which can move big on earnings just alone and others are expected to be sector-influencing stocks that can bleed over into peers. As a reminder, the coming week marks the end of February and brings the start of March.

We have not given detail on every single one but we have given a breakdown or input on those where we have some color to add. The earnings estimates are from Thomson Reuters. We would note that some earnings dates (and the estimates) may change or may have already changed.

As a reminder, retail stocks are complaining about the end of payroll tax holidays on Joe Public and they are also commenting about tax refunds hurting their sales. So far the thought is that this will last one quarter but the verdict is still out on that.

Monday, Feb. 25

Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) -$0.56 EPS… This is all about PROVENGE sales rather than earnings and how well the doctors are starting to warm to the drug. Shares are under $6.00 and sales estimates are almost $83 million. For 2013 those estimates are $372 million.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW) $0.23 EPS… This will act as a precursor to Home Depot.

Tuesday, Feb. 26

American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) $0.42 EPS… Shares have backed off of the highs by $5 but at $74.50 there is almost $10 of upside to the consensus analyst target price.

American Water Works Co. (NYSE: AWK) $0.32 EPS… This is the largest public water utility in America worth $7 billion now. At $39.66 late Friday it is 0.5% from a new all-time high.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) $1.76 EPS… The solar leader has pulled back more than 5% but at $33.80 it is still over $7 above the consensus analyst price target.  As a reminder, 2012 was the peak for revenue and 2011 was the peak for earnings. Expect declines in 2013.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) $0.64 EPS… At $65.65, the analyst price target is only $3 higher.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) $1.99 EPS… Macy’s has pulled back more than 5% to $39.25 and the consensus target is $45.50.

Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) $6.52 EPS… This online travel giant is worth more than most of the airlines combined and at $683 its 52-week high is $774.96 and the consensus price target from analysts is $762.50.

Wednesday, Feb. 27

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) $0.99 EPS… This dollar (more or less) store is down 15% from its peak when valuations became stretched. If the economy is weakening again, the dollar stores might become winners again. That being said, the woes of Wal-Mart overlap the same customers here.

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) $0.03 EPS… Wow, a profit expected on a non-GAAP basis. At $5.80 this has more than doubled off of the 2012 lows but its consensus price target is right at $5.75 right now.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) -$0.23 EPS… This remains under a heavy short interest as Ron Johnson’s turnaround was not a straight-line up. Shares have been cut in half from last year’s peak and the $22.40 price is almost $4 over the consensus analyst price.

Sturm Ruger & Co. (NYSE: RGR) $0.82 EPS… Under gun control efforts the guidance will be more than interesting. That being said, the last quarter should show huge gains due to the mad rush of gun buying in the last 90 days.

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) $1.47 EPS

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) $0.81 EPS

Thursday, Feb. 28

Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) $0.54 EPS… The story that Wall Street cares about is the BN.com sales and the e-book sales. The company is expected to lose money for the April-2013 year at -$1.06 EPS.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) $1.54 EPS… With shares around $17 all that really matters now is the potential buyout. It is too soon to see how the price matching efforts go.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) $0.71 EPS… The turnaround was monumental but has since stalled as far as the continued gains, With a $15 billion market cap that may be a problem.

Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) -$0.31 EPS… The rare earths leader in America is a revenue story right now and sales are expected to be almost $166 million. Losses are expected to grow to -$0.55 EPS for 2013 versus -$0.26 EPS for 2013. We caution that after a capital raise sometimes the analysts do not get their numbers right or they get surprised by the balance sheet changes.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) $0.40 EPS… At a billion-times earnings (over 100-times) it has to beat earnings and sales estimates of $830.8 million AND has to raise guidance. At $170 its 52-week range is $120.18 to $178.91 and the consensus analyst target is $183.62.

The Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) $0.02 EPS… Barron’s recently said the turnaround is real this time (again). Credit Suisse disagrees with the call as its downgrade to Underperform from an already-cautious Neutral hit the stock on Friday. At $5.45 its 52-week range is $4.09 to $5.81 and the consensus analyst target is $5.23.

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