Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) topped analysts' fourth-quarter earnings expectations this morning, but the GPS guru opened with a thud after warning that it expects both gross and operating margins to decline in fiscal 2010. "The margin declines will be primarily driven by an ongoing price decline of approximately 10 percent in the [personal navigation device] industry and increasing R&D investment across our segments," said the company in a statement.

Aside from that cautious note, Garmin's fourth-quarter results and forward-looking guidance were actually much more robust than Wall Street expected. The firm swung to a quarterly profit of $1.43 per share, excluding items, compared to analysts' consensus forecast of 95 cents per share. Gross margin ticked four percentage points higher to 46%, while revenue arrived at $1.06 billion.

The day's most popular strike is the February 45 call, with more than 2,200 contracts changing hands on open interest of 4,177 contracts. Several sizable blocks have changed hands at the ask price, suggesting that traders are buying new calls at this out-of-the-money strike today.

Humble restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter earnings report after the market closes on Thursday, Feb. 11. Ahead of the event, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for a profit of 51 cents per share, up from 43 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. BWLD has an impressive history in the earnings spotlight, having matched or exceeded Wall Street's consensus expectations in each of the previous four reporting periods.

Shares of Baidu (BIDU) are pointed sharply higher in after-hours trading, with investors cheering the company's fourth-quarter earnings report. The Internet-search issue swung to a profit of $62.7 million, or $1.80 per American depositary share, while revenue jumped 40% to $184.7 million. Analysts were looking for a slimmer per-share profit of $1.69, according to Thomson Reuters.

Looking ahead, BIDU said it expects first-quarter revenue to range between $176 million and $181 million, compared to consensus expectations for revenue of $170 million. This upbeat forecast sent the stock surging to a gain of nearly 9% in electronic trading.

While the bar is set pretty high, MasterCard has a solid history of topping consensus expectations -- the company has bested Wall Street's earnings predictions in each of the previous four reporting periods. Despite MasterCard's solid history on the earnings front, though, pessimism is heavy as investors await the firm's fourth-quarter results.

YRC Worldwide (YRCW) is preparing to release its fourth-quarter results, with the company's earnings report scheduled to hit Wall Street before the market opens on Friday, Feb. 5. Analysts are expecting YRCW to swallow a loss of $1.74 per share, wider than the company's year-ago loss of $1.63 per share.

The transportation issue has fallen short of consensus earnings expectations in each of the previous four quarters, which may explain why bearish speculation is on the rise in the days leading up to YRCW's report.

US Airways Group (LCC) stepped into the earnings spotlight Thursday morning, with the airline reporting a fourth-quarter loss of $79 million, or 49 cents per share -- representing a major improvement over its year-ago deficit of $543 million, or $4.76 per share. Excluding items such as hedging write-downs, US Airways' loss was only 20 cents per share, down from $1.94 in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Meanwhile, revenue dwindled 4.9% to $2.6 billion. Passenger revenue per available seat mile dropped 7%, while load factor backpedaled from 80% to 79.8%. US Airways was able to boost its bottom line even as top-line results suffered, thanks to a 17% decline in operating expenses (mostly due to more favorable fuel costs).

However, at least one investor is feeling anxious ahead of Thursday morning's event -- around 11 a.m. Eastern today, a collar spread crossed the tape on LMT. A block of 300 contracts traded at the equity's February 80 call at the bid price of $0.75, while a matching block of 300 contracts simultaneously traded on the February 75 put for the ask price of $1.50. With LMT trading near $77 at last check, both options are currently out of the money.

In the wake of COST's report, analyst Brian Sozzi of Wall Street Strategies reiterated his Buy rating and $66 price target on the equity. "In our view, 4Q09 will go a long way in supporting a higher valuation for Costco," wrote Sozzi in a research note this morning. "The company has managed to control costs, drive traffic to its warehouses consistently throughout the economic downturn, paid $300 million in annual dividends in FY09 (payout ratio of 26.0% second to only Wal-Mart in the sector), and has catalysts on the horizon to showcase earnings power above currently modeled for consensus EPS."

Energy Conversion Devices (NASDAQ: ENER) tumbled to a new 52-week low today as investors panned the company's earnings report. This morning, ENER confessed to a fourth-quarter loss of $15.8 million, or 37 cents per share, more than reversing its year-ago profit of 24 cents per share. Revenue for the period tumbled 38% to $51.4 million. Both figures fell short of analysts' consensus estimates, which called for a loss of 8 cents per share on $55 million in revenue.

"Demand for solar products in our target markets weakened further from the third quarter into the fourth quarter as commercial construction declined, building owners deferred reroofing projects and project financing constraints continued," explained Chief Executive Mark Morelli.

Burger King Holdings (NYSE: BKC) is on the upswing today after the fast-food chain topped analysts' earnings expectations. In its fiscal fourth quarter, the burger baron banked a profit of $58.9 million, or 43 cents per share, representing a 16% increase from the year-ago period. Revenue dipped 2% to $629.9 million, while same-store sales fell by 2.4%. By contrast, analysts were looking for a profit of just 33 cents per share on $632 million in revenue.

Looking ahead, the restaurant chain warned that it expects sales to be soft through Christmas. As a result, Burger King declined to issue specific earnings guidance for the current fiscal year. Additionally, the company plans to slow the pace of its new store openings; rather than the 360 new outlets opened in fiscal 2009, Burger King is targeting 250 to 300 openings in fiscal 2010.

OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) stepped into the earnings spotlight last night, with the company reporting a fourth-quarter loss of $20.1 million, or 40 cents per share.

Excluding items, the quarterly loss would have been 30 cents per share. Revenue for the period fell 47% to $89.1 million, while gross margin contracted from 27.2% to 17%. Analysts were expecting a wider loss of 46 cents per share on slimmer revenue of $68.3 million.

Looking ahead, OVTI expects a fiscal first-quarter adjusted loss of seven cents to 16 cents per share, with revenue ranging between $90 million and $100 million. The forecast was unexpectedly upbeat; analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting a first-quarter loss of 23 cents per share on $74 million in revenue.

Bermuda-based shipping company Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. (NYSE: EXM) is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter earnings Thursday morning. Ahead of the report, Thomson First Call notes that analysts are expecting a profit of $1.04 per share, down from $1.71 per share in the year-ago quarter. Sales are expected to arrive at $124 million.

Judging by recent option activity, many investors are speculating on an earnings miss for EXM. On the International Securities Exchange (ISE), the stock carries a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.66, which ranks higher than 72% of other such readings taken during the past year. In other words, option traders have bought to open the stock's puts at a faster pace only 28% of the time.

Athens-based shipping issue DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) announced Monday that it will release its fourth-quarter and fiscal 2008 earnings results after the close of trading in New York today, March 24. Ahead of the report, buy-to-open call volume has been consistently heavy on the beaten-down stock.

During the past five days, traders on the International Securities Exchange (ISE) have bought to open 30,875 calls on DRYS, compared to jut 9,697 puts. In other words, bullish bets have been three times more popular than their bearish counterparts.