Lennar (NYSE: LEN), whose colleagues include Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) and D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI), reported earnings for the second quarter on Thursday. Since it is a homebuilder, you can expect that it would be a tough one to look at in many respects. There was a revenue decline of over 20%. And there was no profit. Lennar said it lost 76 cents per diluted share.

According to Michael Fowlkes and his earnings preview, Lennar did not satisfy Wall Street's outlook. Analysts were expecting a loss somewhere closer to 63 cents per share. That didn't stop the stock from going up, though. Lennar closed higher yesterday by over 17%. Volume was likewise incredible. Apparently, the market was focusing on the revenue beat.

This week brings a small flurry of end-of-the-calendar-quarter earnings reports. And for the most part, the expectations of the analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters aren't very high. Companies expected to report declining earnings in the most recently concluded quarter include America's Car-Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT), Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY), ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG), Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL), Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. (NYSE: JTX), Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON), and Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC).

Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV), a home builder whose related companies include Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN), and D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI), reported Q2 results on Tuesday after the bell. The company reported a loss of $1.50 per share (the results included a gain related to debt extinguishment). That unfortunately did not meet analyst expectations according to Trey Thoelcke's earnings preview. Analysts were looking for a loss of $1.26 per share.

However, things do look better. Last year at this time, the loss recorded by Hovnanian was a whopping $5.29 per share. Revenues, however, plummeted to $398 million from over $770 million. Analysts were expecting only $348 million according to the preview.

• Friedman Billings upgraded LSI Corp (NYSE: LSI) to Outperform from Market Perform as it believes the risk/reward is attractive at current levels as the company's near-term business trends are stabilizing. The firm maintains a $4 target on the stock.
  
• Merriman upgraded shares of Medarex (NASDAQ: MEDX) to Neutral from Sell on valuation following the stock's 40% decline year-to-date.
  
• Morgan Stanley upgraded ITT Educational (NYSE: ESI) to Overweight from Equal Weight. The firm believes valuation appropriately discounts risks from its internal lending program.
• Noble (NYSE: NE) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman and added to the Conviction Buy List.
  
• Energizer (NYSE: ENR) was raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
  
• Arch Chemicals (NYSE: ARJ) was upgraded at KeyBanc to Hold from Underweight.

Given last week's news that new home sales have plunged and that new home prices continue to fall, what is Wall Street expecting from homebuilders Centex Corp. (NYSE: CTX), Pulte Homes Inc. (NYSE: PHM), and DR Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) when they report quarterly results this week?

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipate that Dallas-based Centex will report that it narrowed its net loss in its fiscal third quarter to $3.27 per share. In the same period of last year, the loss was $7.94 per share. Revenue in the third quarter is expected to total $895.3 million, down 53.0% from last year. For the full year, the loss is expected to reach $7.36 per share on revenue of $4.0 billion, which compares to a $21.69 per share loss on $8.3 billion in sales in 2008. Centex has posted bigger-than-expected losses in the past five quarters. So the consensus recommendation of analysts remains to hold CTX, though the long-range EPS growth forecast is 9.0%. The share price has fallen 20.0% just since the beginning of the year, and it is 70.7% lower than it was a year ago. Centex suspended its quarterly dividends back in October.

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

• American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) saw lower Q3 results in the tough retail envirnoment.
• Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI) Q4 profit surged but it lowered its Q1 forecast due to slowing orders.
• Borders Group Inc. (NYSE: BGP) had dismal Q3 results and said it had ceased its quest to sell itself.
• Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) solid Q1 results beat estimates but shares fell despite a market rally.
• Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) fell short of Q4 profit expectations and guidance was below estimates.
• Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) had a bigger-than-expected Q3 profit and raised its full-year outlook.
• D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) reported a wider Q4 loss as home sales revenue declined by 50%.
• Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) posted strong Q4 numbers that didn't quite match the preliminary results.
• Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) had strong results and an optimistic forecast despite economic conditions.
• Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) lowered its fiscal 2009 forecast and warned of further restructuring.
• Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) Q3 earnings declined but topped expectations, and it announced staff reductions.
• Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE: WMG) Q4 earnings beat expectations though revenues fell slightly.
• Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) forecast a full-year profit in line with estimates and said it is confident in its liquidity.

Upcoming earnings releases include Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD), Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS), Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO), Del Monte Foods (NYSE: DLM), Guess (NYSE: GES), Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL), Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), Big Lots (NYSE: BIG), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

The earnings season is beginning to wind down as we have passed the halfway mark of the quarter and the holiday season begins in earnest next week with Thanksgiving in the United States.

Bermuda-based Frontline Ltd. (NYSE: FRO) is anticipated by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters to be one of the biggest earnings gainers among companies scheduled to report quarterly results this coming week. The oil tanker fleet operator is expected to post third-quarter earnings of $1.97 per share, 86.8% higher than in the same period a year ago, on revenues of $399.5 million (+44.6%). Frontline missed estimates by 6.4% in the previous quarter, and the consensus recommendation by analysts is to hold FRO. While Motley Fool likes its robust dividend, Jim Cramer said in a recent Lightning Round that he prefers rival Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NYSE: NAT). Shares have fallen 52.9% in the past three months, and reached a 52-week low of $25.00 on Friday.

Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI) is also expected to be among the week's biggest earnings gainers. Analysts are looking for the semiconductor chip maker to report a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $0.44 per share, 31.8% higher than a year ago, on revenues of $661.7 million (+2.0%). Analog Devices has beat estimates in three of the past five quarters, but only missed by 1.3% in the previous quarter. Analysts on average recommend buying ADI, which has a forecast long-term EPS growth rate of 17.3%, which better than the S&P 500 and that of rival Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN). Shares sank to a multiyear low of $16.23 on Friday, and are down 41.1% in the past three months.

Analyst upgrades:

• Stephens upgraded shares of Ann Taylor (NYSE: ANN) to Overweight from Equal Weight to reflect the company's restructuring program, reductions in inventory and share repurchase program.
  
• AIMCO (NYSE: AIV) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  
• UBS upgraded D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) to Neutral from Sell.
• Argus believes BigBand Networks (NASDAQ: BBND) is succeeding by adding new customers and driving new business with existing customers. Shares were upgraded to Buy from Hold.
  
• ThinkPanmure expects Capella Education (NASDAQ: CPLA) to attract students at a faster rate in the coming quarters and to improve operating margins. The firm raised shares to Buy from Accumulate and raised its target to $60 from $62.
• Advanced Medical (NYSE:EYE) was lifted to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.