The new earnings season doesn't kick off until Alcoa (AA) reports its first-quarter results on April 11, but a few stragglers are still reporting their earnings for the previous quarter this week. The most prominent earnings reports on tap are Wednesday's results from Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and from Monsanto (MON). Here's what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect to see.

Bed Bath & Beyond

During its fiscal fourth quarter, the nation's largest domestics retailer opened new stores and its CEO sold shares. Analysts anticipate that the New Jersey-based company will report per-share earnings of 97 cents, an increase of 11.3% from the same quarter of last year. The company also is expected to post revenue of $2.4 billion for the three months that ended in February, a 6.3% rise from a year earlier.

Tesla Motors (TSLA) has rallied 16%, following an upgrade to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. April 29 and 30 calls are active. April call option implied volatility is at 61, June is at 63; above its 26-week average of 52 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) April 50 calls are active on 4,800 contracts with option implied volatility at 37; its 26-week average of 31 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement into Q4 results expected to be released on April 6.

Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Analyst Upgrades

• Expedia (EXPE) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Weatherford (WFT) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• MDC Holdings (MDC) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• AutoNavi (AMAP) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Ciena (CIEN) and Nvidia (NVDA) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Canadian Pacific (CP) to outperform from market perform at Raymond James.
• First Midwest (FMBI) and Quiksilver (ZQK) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Sonic (SONC) to neutral from negative at Susquehanna.
• MIPS Technologies (MIPS) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Arrow Electronics (ARW) and Avnet (AVT) to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

Companies continue to file quarterly reports late in the season, and a few are poised to spread some early holiday cheer for investors this week. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect strong earnings results from Nike (NKE), Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and Darden Restaurants (DRI), among others. Here's a quick look (for more details, see the DailyFinance Week in Preview).

Analysts forecast Nike's fiscal-second quarter earnings to come in at 88 cents per share, a 13.6% increase from the same period of last year. The world's leading athletic footwear maker also is expected to post revenue of $4.8 billion for the three months that ended in November. That's 9.3% more than the same period a year earlier. Note that Nike's earnings have not fallen short of consensus estimates in the past five quarters.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Eaton (ETN) to conviction buy from neutral.
• AECOM Technology (ACM) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Hologic (HOLX), Gen-Probe (GPRO) and Qiagen (QGEN) to overweight from neutral.
• GeoMet (GMET) was upgraded to accumulate from neutral at Global Hunter.
• Accretive Health (AH) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Reinsurance Group (RGA) to overweight from equal weight.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Clearwire (CLWR) to neutral from underperform.

I was a little hesitant about Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) back in April. I think it's a very competent retailer, but I wondered if the company's shares might have been a bit overvalued at the time. This past June, management released some disappointing guidance, pressuring the stock.

Wednesday after the bell, the company posted Q2 numbers. They were impressive. According to the Associated Press, earnings per share of 70 cents beat analyst projections by seven pennies. The comps were even better. Same-store sales increased over 7%; last year at this time, the chain experienced a slight contraction in the metric.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company reported Q1 earnings after the close yesterday. While EPS came in at 0.52, which was well above estimates of 0.48, the company's forecast for earnings in the coming quarter fell below current estimates. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on BBBY.

This morning, BBBY opened at $39.19. So far today the stock has hit a high of $40.12 and a low of $39.10. As of 11:30, BBBY is trading at $39.86, down $1.60 (-3.9%). The chart for BBBY looks bearish and S&P gives BBBY a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), whose colleagues include Target (TGT) and Wal-Mart (WMT), reported another good quarter Wednesday after the market closed up shop. In fact, during the after-hours session, the stock went past the 52-week high of $45.14, an indicator that shareholders may have more gains to look forward to.

According to the press release, net income increased over 50% to 86 cents per diluted share in the fourth quarter. According to our earnings preview, the call was for 73 cents per diluted share.

Williams-Sonoma (WSM), a retailer of high-end merchandise whose concepts include Pottery Barn and West Elm, reported results for the fourth quarter earlier today. If you were trading this name ahead of the numbers, you made out, because the market gave this stock a nice bid on the news.

On an adjusted basis, net income came in at 86 cents per share; the company made 31 cents per share in the comparable period on the same basis. According to our preview, the bottom line beat estimates by twelve pennies. Total sales revenue increased 8%. Same-store sales jumped a very attractive 7.6%; the metric was down double-digits last time around.

American Airlines (AMR) has become about as low-rent as one could imagine. I can stomach paying to check bags and for snacks. To me, it makes sense, as they provide important revenue streams and strike me as products and services for which it's possible to charge with little disruption to the passenger experience.

But, as of May 1, 2010, the airline will be charging $8 for a blanket and inflatable neck pillow on flights lasting more than two hours – including flights to Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. But, for your trouble, American will toss in a $10 coupon towards a purchase of more than $30 from Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY).

Of course, on flights lasting less than two hours, American's policy is BYO. If you want to stay warm, cram your own blanket into your carry-on.

The 2009 equity market recovery has led to an increase in Q ratios for the world's largest retailers. What does this mean? They're using their tangible assets effectively and have demonstrated the strength of intangible factors, such as brand and operational efficiency, to create shareholder value.

"Q" is the ratio of a public company's market capitalization to the market value of its tangible assets. So, a Q ratio of above one means that investors value the company's non-tangible assets -- e.g., brand, differentiation, innovation, customer experience and customer loyalty -- and see these factors as reasons to pay a higher price per share. A company with a Q ratio of below one can't generate a sufficient return on its physical assets. According to Deloitte, this could create an arbitrage opportunity, as it may be ripe for an acquisition.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) scored in its fiscal third quarter. Sales rose well over 10%. Same-store sales increased a very impressive 7.3%. The real star, however, was the net income number. Earnings per diluted share soared 71% higher to 58 cents.

Wow, huh? Bed Bath & Beyond's management really benefited from the improving times. You've also got to give some credit to good retail positioning. Analysts weren't counting on much more than 43 cents per share, according to Earnings.com. In addition, I found the nine-month statement of cash flows a pleasing document to read.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect for-profit education provider Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) to start of the new year right when it reports fiscal first quarter 2010 results this week. During the three months that ended in November, Apollo's subsidiary, Apollo Global, saw management changes and its University of Phoenix was recertified to participate in Title IV programs.

Apollo Group is expected to report that earnings rose 22.8% from a year ago to $1.45 per share. Revenue for the quarter is expected to total $1.2 billion, which is 25.9% higher than a year ago. So far, the forecast is for similar year-over-year growth of EPS and revenue in the second quarter. This Phoenix-based company has topped earnings estimates in the past five quarters, by as much as 13 cents per share.

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.