Before the market opens on Thursday, October 29, cereal producer Kellogg (NYSE: K) will release its third-quarter earnings. Analysts expect the company to earn 84 cents per share in the quarter, with revenue of $3.28 billion.

In the second quarter, Kellogg saw its profit increase 13%, which gave the cereal thriller reason to up its full-year forecast. Before the second-quarter report, Kellogg expected high single-digit-percentage growth for 2009; however, this was upped to 8% to 10% following the strong second quarter. In addition, Kellogg believes it will save $1 billion annually by the end of fiscal 2011. This money will then be reinvested into advertising, which could lead to more money for the company.

Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) wallowed in the red Thursday morning, after the drugstore chain disappointed Wall Street with its second-quarter earnings and full-year guidance.

Rite Aid said its quarterly loss narrowed to $116 million, or 14 cents per share, while revenue dwindled 2.7% to $6.3 billion. Same-store sales dipped 1.1%, while gross margin contracted from 27.4% to 26.7%.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) rallied to a new 52-week high Tuesday after topping analysts' second-quarter earnings expectations. The used-car retailer reported a quarterly profit of $103 million, or 46 cents per share, while net sales jumped 13% to $2.1 billion. By contrast, analysts were expecting net income of just 18 cents per share on $1.77 billion in revenue.

"The government's CARS, or 'cash for clunkers,' program resulted in a spike in traffic in late July and August," explained CEO Tom Folliard. Same-store used-unit sales for the quarter climbed 8%, bouncing back from a 17% drop in the first quarter.

Pork producer Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) confessed Tuesday morning to a first-quarter loss of $107.7 million, or 75 cents per share, notably worse than its year-ago loss of just $13.2 million, or 10 cents per share. Excluding one-time charges, SFD would have swallowed a loss of 56 cents per share for the recently concluded quarter. Revenue for the period fell by more than 13% to $2.72 billion.

Both figures fell short of analysts' expectations, which called for a loss of 53 cents per share on $2.82 billion in revenue. Thanks to the twin factors of the recession and the still-spreading H1N1 virus -- a.k.a. the "swine flu" -- Chief Executive Larry Pope said, "I feel like the world has been against us for 12 months." (While H1N1 cannot be contracted by consuming pork products, the pork industry has suffered nevertheless by association.)

Isle of Capri Casinos (NASDAQ: ISLE) is getting hammered today in the wake of its latest earnings report. This morning, the company reported that it swung to a fiscal first-quarter profit of $900,000, or 3 cents per share, while revenue for the period slipped 6.3% to $259.9 million. The results were far worse than expected, with consensus estimates on Wall Street predicting a profit of 13 cents per share on $273 million in revenue.

On the cost-cutting front, ISLE's previously planned departure from the international market is on pace, reported Chairman and CEO James B. Perry. "... we remain on track to exit our international operations in the near term, as we will exit the Bahamas no later than October 31, and expect to exit our remaining UK operations by the end of the calendar year."

After the closing bell sounds this afternoon, LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) will report quarterly earnings. Expectations are pegged at a loss of 91 cents per share for the solar firm, so what can you expect in the wake of the report? Let's take a look at LDK's technical prospects and what an earnings miss or stronger-than-expected earnings could do for the company.

First things first, LDK manufactures and sells solar wafers to other solar manufacturers, both in China (the company's home) and across the globe. The company performed well in the past, when the new global conscience had companies and individuals looking for cleaner forms of energy. Unfortunately, this little thing called a recession occurred, pulling many customers away from LDK and hurting the company on the bottom line.

Illinois-based Corn Products International, Inc. (NYSE: CPO) stepped into the earnings spotlight this morning, with the food firm reporting first-quarter net income of $17 million, or 22 cents per share, down sharply from $64 million, or 85 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2008. Sales for the period fell 11% to $831.1 million.

The results were impacted by higher net corn costs, softer volumes, and foreign currency translations. Analysts were expecting significantly higher earnings of 49 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.

As if the wide earnings miss wasn't enough of a downside catalyst, CPO multiplied its negative momentum by slashing its outlook for the remainder of 2009. "We now anticipate lower volumes in North America due to the economic environment and a slightly longer than anticipated rebound in pricing in Brazil to offset the currency and volume impact," explained Chief Executive Sam Scott.

Last week, my colleague Brian White wondered if AT&T will maintain its exclusive contract for Apple's iPhone. Brian's especially relevant question came exactly one week before AT&T (NYSE: T) is set to step into the earnings spotlight -- this Wednesday.

MarketWatch contends that this exclusivity is the reason AT&T will post "solid first-quarter results." It is MarketWatch's belief that the exclusivity may actually hurt AT&T because of how heavily subsidized upfront sales are for consumers.

The heavy subsidies may be worth the potential cut in earnings for AT&T, as the wave of neo-tech hipsters desiring the latest in phone technology has boosted AT&T's subscriber growth and wireless revenue.

A Yahoo spokesman declined to comment, but reports indicate that the payroll cuts could be announced next Tuesday, April 21, when the Internet portal is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings results. Since she first joined the company in January, Ms. Bartz has made it clear that serious restructuring efforts would be necessary to repair Yahoo's struggling business.

Mens' clothing retailer JoS A. Bank Clothiers (NASDAQ: JOSB) announced its fiscal-year profit this morning -- logging rather impressive earnings of $3.17 per share. A year ago, JOSB reported earnings of $2.72 per share. This year's results were also 10 cents better than what the Street expected. Yearly net sales increased to $695.9 million, up from $604 million a year ago.

Many may find it difficult to believe that a clothing retailer could have a better year this year than last, what's the deal? One reason could be that JOSB delivers quite a bit of value for the dollar. For those not familiar with the company, men can purchase a complete "work-appropriate" outfit for less than $400 (from the suit jacket to the socks).