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The week in preview: Expectations for home improvement, tech, apparel

Posted Aug 17th 2008 12:30PM by Trey ThoelckeTrey Thoelcke RSS Feed
Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Home Depot (HD), Target Corp. (TGT), Gap Inc (GPS), Lowe's Cos (LOW)

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Rival home improvement chains Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) are scheduled to report quarterly results this week. Not surprisingly, given the ongoing housing slump, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial on average expect both companies to post earnings lower than in the same period a year ago. For Home Depot, that's 61 cents per share, down 20.8%, and for Lowe's, 56 cents per share, down 16.4%. Meanwhile, cabinet maker American Woodmark Corp. (NASDAQ: AMWD), for whom Home Depot and Lowe's are major distributors, is also expected to report lower earnings: 11 cents per share, down 67.6%.

The presidential campaigns have prompted much discussion of energy policy and alternative energy sources. Some solar-energy-related concerns are scheduled to report this week, and expectations seem to be high. Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is expected to report 81 cents per share earnings, up 67.9%; ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) is expected to post earnings of 32 cents per share, up 62.5%; and Suntech Power Holdings Co. (NYSE: STP) is expected to have earnings of 32 cents per share, up 21.9%. Even China Sunergy Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: CSUN) is expected to have swung to a profit of 3 cents per share, from a per-share loss of 14 cents a year ago.

Early last week, Jim Cramer suggested things could be looking up for tech stocks, and Wall Street is certainly anticipating good news from these other tech-related companies also reporting this week:

Concurrent Computer Corp. (NASDAQ: CCUR) is also expected to swing to a profit of 12 cents per share. However, Novatel Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: NVTL) profits are expected to have fallen 56.0% to 11 cents per share, and while Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ: TSEM) is expected to narrow its loss to 22 cents per share, from 28 cents per share, financial software company, Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), is expected to have widened its loss to 8 cents per share, from 2 cents a year ago.

Last week's preview focused on apparel-related retailers and, as it turned out, most of the expected earnings gainers provided positive surprises. There's plenty more action in the apparel arena this coming week:

Analysts anticipate that Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) will swing to a profit of 2 cents per share in the quarter. Also, Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) and Hot Topic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTT) are expected to narrow their net losses to 42 cents per share and 2 cents per share, respectively. And Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) and Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) are expected to have widened their losses to 19 cents per share and $1.45 per share, respectively.

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Tags: ADI, Aeropostale, American Woodmark, AMWD, Analog Devices, ANN, AnnTaylor, ARO, Bally, Bebe, BKE, Bon-Ton, BONT, Buckle, BYI, CCUR, Childrens Place, China Sunergy, Citi Trends, Concurrent Computer, CRM, CSUN, CTRN, Dicks, DKS, featured, FL, Foot Locker, Gap, GPS, GYMB, Gymboree, HD, Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, Hot Topic, HOTT, HP, HPQ, INTU, Intuit, Jim Cramer, Limited Brands, LOW, Lowes, LTD, Novatel, NVTL, Open Text, OTEX, Pacific Sunwear, PLCE, PSUN, ReneSola, Ross Stores, ROST, Saks, Salesforce.com, Semtech, SKS, SMTC, SNPS, SOL, solar energy, STP, Suntech Power, Synopsys, Target, TGT, Tower Semiconductor, Trina Solar, TSEM, TSL, TWB, Tween Brands, Zumiez, ZUMZ

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Last updated: November 26, 2009: 04:51 AM

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