Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), a chain that competes with Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT), issued Q2 numbers on Wednesday after the conclusion of the regular trading session. Net sales increased over 3%, and earnings per diluted share expanded by 13% to 52 cents. The retailer beat expectations by four pennies, according to the earnings preview.

This is a good showing for the retailer. As we all know, the economy continues to show signs of improvement. At least, that's what the pundits and the headlines have been telling us. An earnings report like this from a retailer does offer some evidence that the worst is behind us.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY), the largest domestic superstore chain in the U.S., is scheduled to discuss its second quarter 2009 results Wednesday in a conference call at 5:00 PM ET. You can catch the live webcast of the call on the company's website.

The retailer easily beat Wall Street expectations in the first quarter, and for the three months that ended in August, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect the New Jersey-based company to report net income of $0.48 per share, two pennies per share better than a year ago. Revenue for the second quarter is expected to be 2.8% higher to $1.9 billion.

Leading domestics retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) closed more than 9% higher today after the one-two punch of a well-received earnings report and a brokerage upgrade. The company announced first-quarter results of 34 cents per share, a whopping nine cents better than analysts were expecting. Revenue edged 2.8% higher year over year. The one gray lining was same-store sales numbers, which drifted 1.6% lower during the reporting period.

Reacting to this after-the-close earnings report, Cowen & Co. upgraded the shares this morning to "neutral" from "underperform." The brokerage noted that BBBY has been able to cut advertising expenses now that its chief competitor, LInens n' Things, has filed for bankruptcy. Cowen also notes that BBBY has reduced its payroll expenses.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) easily topped Q4 earnings estimates but same-store sales fell.
• Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) forecast Q3 earnings that are well above analysts' estimates.
• Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) said it narrowed its loss in Q4 despite restructuring costs.
• Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. (NYSE: EXM) is expected to fall short of Q4 earnings expectations.
• Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) reported strong Q2 results and and raised its outlook for Q3.

As investors start to believe that the worst of the current recession is already behind us, they are turning their attention to oil, and today have pushed the precious crude over the psychological $50 mark.

Oil is moving higher today with the overall markets, as Wall Street has been seeing hints that things are starting to turn around. Part of the reason for the optimism has come in the form of strong earnings this week from Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT) and Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY). If restaurants and retailers are seeing things start to rebound, its a good sign for the overall economy, and a sign that people are out there driving their cars around, which helps boost oil prices.

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) reported earnings for the fourth quarter on Tuesday after the market closed its doors. In the after-hours session, the retailer's stock rallied mightily, rising over $3.50, or better than 14%. Let me tell you, that was impressive. As was the beat on the bottom line.

As I wrote in my preview piece, the market was looking for 44 cents per share. Bed Bath & Beyond did its job and delivered 55 cents per share. Net sales decreased by less than 1%. Granted, no one likes to see the top line contract even a little, but considering how bad retail has been, I actually find this to be a small victory. Unfortunately, the same-store sales weren't good. They dropped over 4%. Also, operating profit and cash from operations saw a decline.

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), whose colleagues include Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT), will be reporting earnings for the fourth quarter on Tuesday, April 7. Now, the market isn't expecting any earnings growth. In fact, according to this source, the decline could be as severe as 33% if the retailer matches expectations and delivers $0.44 per share.

The good news, though, is that Bed Bath & Beyond actually has a decent history in terms of beating Wall Street expectations. If that holds, then investors might be pleasantly surprised when Q4 numbers are issued. When I wrote about the retailer's last earnings release, I was pretty bearish. And I was very wrong. I questioned why the stock should be purchased. Well, the stock has been doing well as of late, and is up on the year-to-date frame as of this writing. A commenter named Rich set me straight and rightfully proposed that the liquidation of a competitor might have temporarily dampened things; once the competitor was gone, he said, Bed Bath & Beyond might prosper.

A new earnings reporting season kicks off this coming week with the quarterly report from Alcoa, the first Dow Jones industrial to report. But investors looking for early signs about the first quarter will be disappointed in what they see from the aluminum producer, assuming that analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are neither too optimistic or too pessimistic about those results.

Home-products retailer Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM), which runs such retail brands as Pottery Barn and West Elm in addition to its namesake chain, issued Q4 numbers on Tuesday. Well, they weren't spectacular. Surprised? No, I'm sure you weren't. I mean, when you sell stuff for homes, you've got to expect that you're going to see some weakness. And there's plenty of it here.

Revenues decreased almost 27% during the quarter, and earnings per share on an adjusted basis dropped over 70% to 31 cents. That beat estimates of 16 cents per share, according to Reuters' analysts, but forgive me if I don't jump up and down over that performance. And what about same-store sales? They were mighty bad. On an overall basis, they went down by over 22%.

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) reported earnings for the third fiscal quarter on Wednesday after the bell, and I have to admit, I'm puzzled that, at the time of this writing, the stock is seeing a bid. It currently is trading up almost 3% on decent volume.

Here's why I'm puzzled. According to Melly Alazraki's summary, earnings per share declined 36% to $0.34 per share. That was a penny below what analysts were looking for. Okay, maybe the buying is due to the fact that the company only missed by a penny? After all, I myself was expecting much worse, and maybe the market was, too. But then I go to the press release and see that top-line sales were flat and same-store sells fell by 5.6%. Those comps are just terrible. And the cash-flow statement was nothing to write home about, either. You'd have to be pretty damn optimistic to buy Bed Bath & Beyond with the market indexes in the red and with all the miserable economic data that's out there haunting the halls of Wall Street, Main Street, and every other Street you can think of. Plus, with not-so-great news out from Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), I really have to wonder why anyone is stepping up today to purchase BBBY. (Michael Fowlkes does offer a different perspective in his earnings preview, so you may want to check that out.)

Maybe everyone else is right while I am wrong. Who knows. But the stock doesn't pay a dividend, the dire predictions on Christmas sales are coming true, and the Santa rally may officially be over. I don't know, I'd tend to be more bearish on this retailer's earnings data than bullish. It's possible some shorts are cashing out on the news, I suppose. One thing's for certain: I won't be getting into bed with this stock (and, yes, that was an awful pun).

Disclosure: I don't own any stock mentioned, but positions can change without notice.

Investors are going to keep a close eye on Bed Bath and Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) Wednesday afternoon when the company reports its fiscal third quarter numbers.

Going into tomorrow's earnings announcement, analysts are expecting the company to post third quarter earnings of 33 cents per share. During its third quarter last year the company matched analyst estimates for 52 cents per share, so hitting its 33 cent estimate this year would mean a drop of 36% year over year.

Last month, the company pre-announced its quarterly numbers and stated that it expected earnings would fall somewhere between 31 and 35 cents a share. This estimate was down from the company's previous guidance of 41 to 47 cents per share.

Of course, one of the main reasons for the company's lower guidance was overall weakness in the economy, but it also faced increased competition from the liquidation sale at its main rival, Linens 'n Things. As Linens 'n Things was preparing to close its doors, its inventory was put on massive discount, and Bed Bath and Beyond was hurt by consumers flocking to buy the highly discounted prices over at Linens 'n Things. I, personally, did a lot of holiday shopping at Linens 'n Things, as did many people that I know.

Bed, Bath, & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) shares are trading higher today after the company posted a first-quarter profit of $76.8 million, or 30 cents per share, beating analysts' estimates of 27 cents per share. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on BBBY.

After hitting a one-year high of $37.61 last June, the stock hit a one-year low of $24.49 in January. BBBY opened this morning at $29.98. So far today the stock has hit a low of $29.72 and a high of $30.54. As of 12:05, BBBY is trading at $30.28, up $1.70 (6.0%). The chart for BBBY looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August bull-put credit spread below the $25 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 4.2% return in just seven weeks as long as BBBY is above $25 at August expiration. Bed, Bath & Beyond would have to fall by more than 17% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) reported Q1 earnings on Wednesday, and Trey Thoelcke highlighted the numbers in this earnings-recap piece. Shares rose substantially in the after-hours trading session yesterday, jumping over 8%, and as I reviewed various earnings reports last night, I found myself drawn to the retailer's stock performance. I haven't been a huge fan of Bed Bath & Beyond as of late, so I figured I should take a look at the earnings release to see if there's anything here that would change my opinion.

Unfortunately, there isn't. Sales may have grown 6%, and expectations may have been beaten by $0.03, but net income still dropped over 20% to $0.30 per diluted share. Cash flow from operations declined 44% to $65.8 million. And same-store sales were very anemic, rising only 0.8%.

I choose, in this case, to focus on those figures. I also consider the fact that Bed Bath & Beyond does not pay a dividend, and that we are in an awful economic environment, both from a consumer and stock-market standpoint. This is not the stock I'd want to face the recession with, and I don't necessarily find it to be a big value right now. When it comes to retail, I am more likely to look at Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT). I'd even consider a Home Depot (NYSE: HD) or a Lowe's (NYSE: LOW). All of these stocks pay dividends and have better brand equities and more attractive prospects. Bed Bath & Beyond certainly didn't deliver an earnings bomb, but I'm still not inclined to put money here.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The U.S. Retail Hardlines Sector, the BioFuels Sector, Interpublic Group and Omnicom Group were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Lehman initiated the Retail Hardlines Sector with a Neutral. The firm initiated coverage of Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) with Overweight ratings and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) and Williams Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) with Equal Weight ratings.
  
• Oppenheimer initiated Aventine Renewable (NYSE: AVR), Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX) and VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) with Perform ratings. The firm is cautious on the industry due to higher feedstock costs.
  
• UBS initiated Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) and Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) with Buy ratings and an $11 target and $62 target, respectively. The firm views valuation as attractive.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Morgan Stanley assumed coverage of International Flavors (NYSE: IFF) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Wachovia initiated CGI Group (NYSE: GIB) with a Market Perform rating.
  
• Leap Wireless (LEAP) was initiated at RBC Capital with a Sector Perform rating and $55 target.

Consumer electronics retailer Circuit City Stores Inc. (NYSE: CC) and leading domestics retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NYSE: BBBY) are scheduled to report earnings tomorrow. Here's a quick peek ahead of results.

Circuit City has fallen short of earnings estimates in the past five quarters. When the Richmond, Virginia-based company reported fourth-quarter results back in November, its loss of 64 cents per share was deeper than the 31 cents per share loss forecast by analysts polled by Thomson Financial, as well as the nine cents per share loss in the same period of 2006. For the current quarter, analysts expect the loss to narrow to six cents per share, compared to a profit of 61 cents in the year-ago quarter.

The company's earnings per share growth forecast for this year is a dismal -92.7%, worse than the industry average, as well as the 2.45% of rival Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY). So it's little surprise that the analysts' consensus recommendation is to hold Circuit City, and has been for at least three months. Shares are trading much closer to the 52-week low of $3.44 from mid March than the 52-week high of $19.12 from almost a year ago. The share price closed Monday at $4.76, and fell to about $4.62 in early trading Tuesday.

For more about pressure to oust the CEO, to drop Circuit City from the S&P 500, or other news that could influence earnings results, see BloggingStocks' Circuit City coverage.