Retailer BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) stepped into the earnings spotlight this morning, reporting second-quarter earnings of 64 cents per diluted share. A year ago, BJ reported net income of 61 cents per diluted share, including three cents per share from favorable state income tax audit settlements.

During the first half of 2009, BJ raked in $1.09 per diluted share compared to 90 cents per diluted share a year ago. Quarterly sales slipped slightly more than 5% to $2.5 billion on a year-over-year basis, but the bulk retailer did forecast full-year sales to increase 0.5% to 1.5%. On the forecast front, BJ now expects full-year earnings between $2.46 and $2.56, which is higher than the previously forecast $2.44 to $2.54.

Shares of e-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) are selling off sharply this afternoon after disappointing Wall Street with its second quarter numbers.

This afternoon's results shows the company posting a 10% drop in quarterly net profit, as the company was hit by an unfavorable foreign currency translation and legal expenses related to its recent $51 million Toys R Us settlement.

This morning, oil firm Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) posted second-quarter earnings and a warning about North American natural gas markets. First things first, HAL reported second-quarter earnings of 30 cents per share (excluding a $12-million charge stemming from job cuts). While these results were far worse than the 55 cents per share the company earned a year ago, they still managed to top the consensus estimate by four cents per share. The situation was the same for quarterly revenue, which fell to $3.49 billion (from $4.49 billion a year ago) but still managed to outpace the Street's expectations - which called for $3.41 billion.

Game and toy maker Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) had its chance to impress Wall Street with its second quarter results Monday morning, and the company indeed did not disappoint, posting stronger than expected earnings.

Spurred by strong sales of G.I. Joe and Transformers toys, the company reported a 5% jump in profit with earnings of 26 cents per share. Going into today's earnings report analysts had expected earnings of just 23 cents per share.

"This is a great time to be a banker," New York Times columnist Floyd Norris says, somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Jabs about bailouts and huge bonus payments aside, it's true that banking system is finally seeing rational pricing of risk -- and that means earnings power has greatly increased for deposit-taking banks. If you have a savings account or money market, you might have noticed that your interest payments have dried up to a pittance; the interest you aren't being paid is dropping through to banks' bottom lines.

Looking at today's earnings report from Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C), for example, is useful to see how the economics of the industry function, and whether Citicorp -- the "good bank" as Citigroup works to split itself -- will live up to the promise CEO Vikram Pandit attributes to it. In a company press release, Pandit said, "Citicorp is our core franchise and will be the source of Citi's long term profitability and growth. Citicorp is unique with institutional and consumer businesses operating on an unmatched global footprint."

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), the huge producer of pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs and consumer healthcare products, reported earnings before the market opened today. Earnings per share for the second quarter of 2009 were $1.15 on $15.2 billion in revenue, compared to the $1.11 average and $1.14 high expected from analysts. The consensus revenue target was $15 billion, so the firm also beat on the top line despite seeing a single-digit percentage drop in revenues from last year.

Similar to consulting firm Accenture (NYSE: ACN), international results were hurt by foreign exchange effects, which offset nearly 4% operational growth overseas. Half of Johnson & Johnson's total revenues for the quarter came from outside the United States. Shares, which are down year-to-date and are underperforming the S&P 500, were up fractionally today in mid-day trading.

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), the first Dow Jones Industrial Component to report earnings, beat estimates when they announced after the bell -- or so the story goes. It continues that this touched off buying interest across the market that had been sorely lacking in prior sessions. There's only one problem: Alcoa's results weren't very good, and they didn't boost the market.

Alcoa opened trading today up more than 5.5% from its close yesterday, before it reported earnings. Going into the final minutes of trading, the stock was down more than 2% -- a tough reversal for those buying on the pop. The company reported a headline EPS of -$0.32, or -$0.26 excluding restructuring charges. This compared to analysts' consensus of -$0.38 on $3.9 billion in revenue.

Shares in homebuilder KB Home (NYSE: KBH) dropped more than 8% as of mid-day Friday following the company's earnings release. Earnings per share for the quarter ending May 31 were a loss of $1.03, or $78.4 million, on $384.5 million in revenue, compared to the $0.64 average loss expected from analysts. The expected earnings range was between a $0.03 and a $1.40 loss, reflecting uncertainty about the writedowns needed on home inventories, land, and joint ventures.

When the housing market was at its peak in 2006, KB Home's sales topped $3 billion in one quarter. The company has struggled since, as the worst housing market in generations has led to a decline in housing starts of more than 75% from the peak to the present.

Accenture Ltd. (NYSE: ACN), a global consulting firm that also offers outsourcing and technology services, reported earnings after the close today. Earnings per share for the quarter ending May 31 were $0.68 on $5.15 billion in revenue, compared to the $0.64 average and $0.67 high expected from analysts. The consensus revenue target was $5.2 billion, and results were hurt by currency translation effects, which reduced U.S. dollar results by 12%. Year-over-year, EPS was down 8% from the $0.74 earned in the same quarter last year, with the difference again attributable to currency exchange.

Shares, which were up fractionally today, jumped almost 5% in after-hours trading following the earnings results.

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.

Athletic apparel company Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) struck a pose in the earnings confessional today, announcing revenue and earnings per share for the fiscal first quarter.

Net revenue jumped 6% to $81.7 million, while same-store sales slipped 8% lower. Profit, meanwhile, fell to $6.5 million, or nine cents per share, down from 12 cents in the year-earlier period but one penny ahead of analysts' estimates.

Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW) reported first-quarter results after the close Monday. Earnings dropped 47% compared to a year ago. Although earnings contracted due to fewer customers, cost-cutting measures helped the company top the consensus estimate and forecast solid second-quarter earnings.

First-quarter earnings checked in at 10 cents per share for the quarter, down from 19 cents per share a year ago but far better than the Street's forecast loss of a penny per share. Quarterly sales dropped 6% to $464.1 million from $491.1 million a year ago, as clothing product sales dropped 7.6%. Nevertheless, sales topped the consensus estimate of $459.3 million.

Shares of discount retailer Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) have been soaring today after the company reported strong first quarter numbers, and raised its future guidance.

It is no secret that shoppers are looking for bargain deals these days, and that trend resulted in a 3% jump in same store sales for Ross, and a 15% jump in its first quarter earnings. The company's earnings came in at 72 cents per share, which was in line with analyst estimates, and its revenues were above what Wall Street was looking to see.

Video-game retailer GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) is seeing quite a sell-off in the wake of its first-quarter earnings report. This morning, GME reported net income of $70.4 million, or 42 cents per share, topping year-ago results by a nickel per share and beating analysts' estimates by a penny. Sales were on the upswing as well, gaining 9% to $1.98 billion to match Street expectations (same-store sales dropped 1.5%).

While all seemed fairly well and good for this reporting period, the future isn't quite so bright. Company officials project per-share earnings of 28 to 33 cents, falling considerably shy of the 40 cents expected by analysts. What's more, same-store sales are now projected to drop between 8% and 11%.

After the closing bell yesterday, PetSmart (NASDAQ: PETM) announced that its first-quarter profit increased 12%. The results were driven by higher merchandise and service sales.

PETM earned $46.3 million, or 37 cents per share -- a nickel better than last year's same-quarter results. The firm also topped Wall Street's expectations, which called for earnings of 30 cents per share. Quarterly revenue increased 9% to $1.33 billion, which fell short of the consensus estimate of revenue of $1.35 billion.

The company's merchandise sales increased 9% to $1.18 billion, with pet service sales increasing 10% to $142.8 million.