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.

Shares of retail giant Best Buy (BBY) traded higher Thursday morning after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Going into the earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see Best Buy report earnings of $1.84 per share for the quarter. Best Buy topped estimates by posting earnings of $1.98 per share.

Target Corp. (TGT) is one of the top ten largest retailers in the U.S. by sales, competing mainly with Walmart (WMT), Best Buy (BBY), Macy's (M), Sears (SHLD) and Costco (COST). The recent economic environment has revealed that the firm is highly exposed to U.S. macro-economic trends that impact retail spending, such as high rising energy prices, lower home values and downturns in the economy. Although Target positions itself as a "cheap chic" retailer, consumers are still cutting back on goods such as apparel and electronics, both of which play an important role in Target's total sales.

Target (TGT) has not been a good stock at all since the turn of the year. Take a look at the twelve-month chart. Find where the shares were on Jan. 3. Got it? Now, do you see what happened since then? I don't think you can miss such a big drop.

The 52-week low for the retailer is $48.23; the 52-week high is $60.97. The equity finished down 0.7% to $51.30 on Monday. Volume, thankfully, was below average. That lack of conviction could be a saving grace.

What a difference a few months can make. Back in December, I was a bit bearish on Big Lots (BIG). That was at $29.50. Know what the stock closed at yesterday? Its final price was $41.33. And that's rather close to the 52-week high of $42.27.

To fully appreciate how dramatic the rise in the stock has been requires a look at the one-year chart. Impressive, isn't it? I guess I should have been a stronger believer in the retailer. So, what should I be thinking now?

Retail giant Target Corp. (TGT) reported its fourth quarter results this morning, and a strong holiday shopping season helped boost profit by 11%.

The company reported earnings of $1.38 per share, slightly lower than the $1.40 that analysts had been expecting. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 per share.

Barnes & Noble, the Gap, RadioShack, and Sears -- that may sound like the lineup at the local mall, but in fact they are just a few of the retailers scheduled to step into the earnings spotlight this week. Following last week's disappointing January retail sales numbers from the Commerce Department but strong fourth-quarter reports from Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and Nordstrom (JWN), the coming week will offer plenty more data on the sector for investors to mull over.

Walmart

Bentonville-based Walmart (WMT) offered free holiday shipping, closed its Moscow office and named a chief merchandising officer during its fourth quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings for that period to come to $1.31 per share, up from $1.17 in the same quarter of last year. The world's largest retailer also is expected to post revenues of $117.7 billion for the three months that ended in January. That's 3.5% more than a year earlier.

Analyst Upgrades

• Athenahealth (ATHN), Ensco (ESV), Pride International (PDE) and Sinclair Broadcast (SBGI) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• CIRCOR (CIR) to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Urban Outfitters (URBN) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Shaw Group (SHAW) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• MGM Resorts (MGM) and Boyd Gaming (BYD) to buy from neutral, as well as Intrepid Potash (IPI) to neutral from underperform, at BofA/Merrill.
• Carlisle (CSL) to buy from neutral at SunTrust.

Big Lots (BIG), a retailer whose colleagues include Target (TGT) and Walmart (WMT), was feeling the wrath of the sellers on Friday. The stock closed down 5% to $29.50. Volume was above the norm.

According to Briefing.com, the company made 23 cents per share in the third quarter. Unfortunately, that was one penny below the overall forecast. In addition, guidance for Q4 wasn't too striking, and same-store sales experienced only slight growth.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Red Hat (RHT) to overweight from neutral.
• Honeywell (HON) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Regal-Beloit (RBC) and Actuant (ATU) were upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• RW Baird upgraded MedAssets (MDAS) to outperform from neutral.
• Savvis (SVVS) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at William Blair.

It's been a strange marriage right from the start. Kmart, the discounter, joined with Sears, the department store retailer in 2005.
Both lines are in stiff competition with other brands, the USA Today reports. Kmart's competing with Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT), while Sears's competitors include Home Depot (HD) and Lowe's (LOW).

The Kmart-Sears combo has been lagging in the retail sector. On Thursday, Sears Holdings (SHLD) posted a loss of $218 million or $1.98 per share, compared with a loss of $127 million or $1.09 per share in the period last year. Revenue fell 5% to $9.68 billion. Analysts had expected $9.89 billion.

GameStop Corp. (GME) is down about 3.8% at the time of this writing. That places the quote at $20.20. Volume is pretty heavy. The 52-week low for the stock is $17.12; the 52-week high is $26.05. Looks like the market isn't exactly sure what to do with this company as the shares are at a comfortable distance between the two extremes.

Earlier today, the video-game chain reported earnings for the third quarter. According to the press release, net income, on an adjusted basis, came in at 38 cents per share. That was one penny above the estimate. Total company same-store sales increased 1.1%.