Next week actually has some key earnings despite the notion that earnings season is over.  We have many tied to retail due to the notion that most stocks in the national retail group have an off quarter that ends a month later for its fiscal year compared to most because of the nature of retail trends around Christmas and into January.  We are looking at earnings from Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF), Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM), Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL), Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG), Adobe Systems Inc. (NYSE: ADBE), Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT), Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY), Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU), and Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL).

We have listed estimates from Thomson Reuters and prices, estimates ranges, valuation, and other key metrics on each where applicable.

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) is up for earnings on Monday and we’ll see how Warren Buffett’s new creditor status is working out over the last year.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $1.13 EPS and $970.93 million revenues.  For the quarter ahead, those estimates are $0.31 EPS and $585.91 million in revenues.  With shares at $46.99, the 52-week range is $19.97 to $48.38.

Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) is back, at least that is how its earnings are supposed to be.  Guidance has been raised so it has some wind at its back.  This is expected Monday. Thomson Reuters has estimates at $0.73 EPS and $1.07 billion revenues.  For the quarter ahead, those estimates are -$0.01 EPS and $646.76 million in revenues.  It would seem that investors would like to hear guidance for any profit next quarter.  At $24.10, the stock’s 52-week range is $9.70 to $25.00.

On Tuesday morning, Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) is up for earnings.  The cruise line is at $37.50 and the 52-week range is $20.70 to $38.37.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.14 EPS and $3.09 billion revenues.  For the quarter ahead, those estimates are $0.25 EPS and $3.27 billion in revenues.  As a result of the report, we’d be looking directly to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) in conjunction.

Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) is also on deck Tuesday morning.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.71 EPS and $17.18 billion in revenues.  For the quarter ahead, those estimates are $0.61 EPS and $17.26 in revenues. At $35.35, the 52-week range is $23.67 to $40.69.

Adobe Systems Inc. (NYSE: ADBE) is on deck for Tuesday afternoon.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.37 EPS and $827.4 million revenues.  For the quarter ahead, those estimates are $0.41 EPS and $858.62 million in revenues.  At $34.57 its 52-week trading range is $20.39 to $38.20.  Because of the Omniture acquisition, we would note that estimates versus reality on either side may have another quarter or so before a meeting of the minds comes back into play.  At 17.8-times a blended 2010 to 2011 forward earnings (Nov-end) the multiple here is one to watch.

Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) is on deck Wednesday afternoon for the Linux software maker.  The biggest issue here that always comes up is valuation.  Thomson Reuters has estimates at $0.16 EPS and $193.18 million revenues.  For the quarter ahead, those estimates are $0.18 EPS and $199.07 million in revenues.  At $29.99, the 52-week trading range is $14.43 to $31,76.  This marks its fiscal year-end as well, and with estimates at $0.76 EPS and $842.26 million for FEB-2011 year-end… the Linux play trades at 39-times forward earnings and about 6.7-times forward revenues.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is up for earnings on Wednesday morning.  Thomson Reuters has estimates at $1.79 EPS and $16.05 billion revenues.  For the quarter ahead, those estimates are $0.48 EPS and $10.85 billion in revenues. This is also the year-end and Best Buy reaffirmed a $3.00 to $3.15 range of annual earnings.  One big issue that has come up here recently is buying lower-priced items in PCs and in flat-panel TVs.  For whatever it is worth, it might also be worth a look into how much the ‘warranty business’ affected.   At $41.19, the 52-week range is $31.25 to $45.55.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) is often an investor wild card around earnings and it is on deck next Thursday morning.  The yoga-themed company also has a very high valuation with high growth rates behind it, but it has effectively no peers for relative comparison.  Thomson Reuters has estimates are $0.29 EPS and $143.54 million revenues.  For the quarter ahead, those estimates are $0.17 EPS and $109.5 million in revenues.  Despite high growth, the 35-times forward Jan-2011 earnings needs either raised guidance and a significant beat or it needs to come in a bit.     At $33.74, the stock’s 52-week range is $6.13 to $36.30.

Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) is one of the few still growing and shares are within about 3% of its 52-week and multi-year highs.  Earnings are due next Thursday after the close. Thomson Reuters has estimates are $0.38 EPS and $6.36 billion in revenues.  For the quarter ahead, those estimates are $0.53 EPS and $9.56 billion in revenues.  As a reminder, the discrepancy over the figures for the last quarter versus next quarter is the addition of the Sun Microsystems acquisition.  We would caution that analysts are often very poor at interpreting and then interpolating forward quarters when a merger is coming into the fold.  That makes the “Guidance” a total question when it comes down to estimates versus reality.  If you blend the Fiscal 2010 and 2011 (May-end), Oracle trades at 14.35-times forward earnings per share.  Not expensive, not dirt cheap.  Because Oracle goes after much of the same sort of enterprise spending dollars, albeit on different targets, the direct link to watch is Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO).

As a reminder, these estimates may change as each earnings report gets closer to its actual release.  On some previews we will update these as they change.  Have a great weekend.

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JON C. OGG

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