Earnings Preview for Mar 23 - 27

Best Buy Co. (BBY - Analyst Report) and Gamestop Corporation (GME - Analyst Report) could top expectations. Sonic Corporation (SONC - Snapshot Report) could disappoint.

This will be a quiet week for earnings, with just 58 companies confirmed to report. There are 10 S&P 500 members in this group, including Best Buy Co. (BBY - Analyst Report), Gamestop Corporation (GME - Analyst Report), Lennar Corporation (LEN - Snapshot Report), Tiffany & Co. (TIF - Analyst Report) and Walgreen Company (WAG - Analyst Report).

Housing data will headline the first half of the week with existing home sales published on Monday and new home sales published on Wednesday. NEW

• Tuesday: March Conference Board consumer confidence, March Chicago PMI, January CaseShiller home price index
• Wednesday: March ISM manufacturing index, February pending home sales, February construction spending, March ADP employment data, March auto sales, weekly crude inventories
• Thursday: February factory orders, weekly initial jobless claims
• Friday: March unemployment and nonfarm payrolls, March ISM services index

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak at Fed Reserve credit market symposium on Friday, Apr 3. Vice Chairman Donald Kohn will also speak on Friday. He will discuss measures to pull the U.S. out of the recession at the College of Wooster, in Wooster, Ohio. NEW American International Group, Inc. (AIG - Snapshot Report) in front of a House committee on Tuesday.

The markets are coming off of overbought conditions, so a continued pullback seems likely. Just remember that wildcard events (e.g. initiatives from the Obama administration, credit rating downgrades, bank announcements, etc.) still remain the primary drivers of market sentiment. It is also possible that we could get some first-quarter warnings as well.

Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises

Fiscal fourth-quarter profit forecasts for Best Buy Co. (BBY - Analyst Report) were revised higher by 5 of the 20 covering brokerage analysts during the past 7 days. The revisions pushed the consensus earnings estimate up 2 cents to $1.39 per share. The most accurate estimate is slightly more bullish at $1.40 per share. It is possible that the revisions reflect the market share gained from the demise of Circuit City. BBY has topped expectations during 3 out of the last 4 quarters. Best Buy is scheduled to report on Thursday, Mar 26, before the start of trading.

Last month, Gamestop Corporation (GME - Analyst Report) narrowed its fiscal fourth-quarter guidance to between $1.33 and $1.34, the high-end of its previous forecast. In response, 5 brokerage analysts raised their quarterly projections. These changes moved the consensus earnings estimate 1 cent higher to $1.34 per share. The video game retailer has topped expectations for 8 consecutive quarters. GME is scheduled to report on Thursday, Mar 26, before the start of trading.

Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises

Sonic Corporation (SONC - Snapshot Report) has missed expectations for 3 consecutive quarters. Ahead of the fast food chain's fiscal second-quarter report, the majority of the 17 covering brokerage analysts have cut their forecasts. The consensus earnings estimate of 9 cents per share is 2 cents below the average forecast of a month ago. Sonic is scheduled to report on Monday, Mar 23, after the close of trading.

Charles Rotblut, CFA is the senior market analyst for Zacks.com. He can be reached at crotblut@zacks.com.

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Earnings Calendar

Here is a list of companies that we have confirmed will report during the week of Mar 23 - 27¹. Prices are as of Thursday's, Mar 19, market close.

Company	Ticker	Zacks Consensus Estimate	Year Ago Actual	Last Qtr Surprise	Date	Time	Price
Focus Media Hld	FMCN - Snapshot Report	$0.38	$0.47	(4.3%)	3/23	AMC	$5.53
On Track Innov	OTIV - Snapshot Report	($0.18)	($0.29)	(9.5%)	3/23	BTO	$1.20
Phillips Van He	PVH - Snapshot Report	$0.28	$0.55	1.5%	3/23	AMC	$18.59
Providence Svc	PRSC - Snapshot Report	$0.06	$0.35	(211.1%)	3/23	BTO	$5.32
Rcm Tech Inc	RCMT	$0.04	$0.13	(63.6%)	3/23	N/A	$1.08
Rubio'S Restrnt	RUBO - Snapshot Report	($0.02)	($0.02)	100.0%	3/23	AMC	$3.36
Sonic Corp	SONC - Snapshot Report	$0.09	$0.15	(25.0%)	3/23	AMC	$8.63
Taleo Corp-A	TLEO - Snapshot Report	$0.08	$0.08	33.3%	3/23	AMC	$11.30
Tiffany & Co	TIF - Analyst Report	$0.80	$1.27	34.6%	3/23	BTO	$20.77
Walgreen Co	WAG - Analyst Report	$0.66	$0.69	(10.9%)	3/23	N/A	$24.05
Carnival Corp	CCL - Analyst Report	$0.18	$0.30	7.5%	3/24	BTO	$22.39
Carnival Plc	CUK - Analyst Report	$0.20	$0.30	16.2%	3/24	BTO	$23.07
Commercial Metl	CMC - Snapshot Report	$0.04	$0.67	44.1%	3/24	BTO	$11.56
Copel-Adr Pr B	ELP - Analyst Report	$0.47	$0.64	N/A	3/24	N/A	$9.99
Jabil Circuit	JBL - Analyst Report	$0.08	$0.13	0.0%	3/24	AMC	$4.26
Mccormick & Co	MKC - Snapshot Report	$0.45	$0.41	2.4%	3/24	BTO	$32.25
Robbins & Myers	RBN - Snapshot Report	$0.40	$0.44	13.6%	3/24	AMC	$16.42
Solar Power Inc	SOPW	($0.05)	$999.00	0.0%	3/24	AMC	$0.55
Talbots Inc	TLB - Snapshot Report	($0.61)	($0.22)	(1300.0%)	3/24	BTO	$2.94
Williams-Sonoma	WSM - Snapshot Report	$0.16	$1.15	16.7%	3/24	BTO	$10.40
Ada-Es Inc	ADES - Snapshot Report	($0.04)	$0.00	40.0%	3/25	BTO	$2.72
Antares Pharma	AIS - Snapshot Report	($0.05)	($0.05)	16.7%	3/25	BTO	$0.40
Citi Trends Inc	CTRN - Analyst Report	$0.53	$0.59	54.5%	3/25	AMC	$14.48
Cke Restaurants	CKR - Snapshot Report	$0.07	$0.00	0.0%	3/25	AMC	$8.51
Delias Inc	DLIA - Snapshot Report	($0.04)	$0.19	(228.6%)	3/25	BTO	$1.76
Dsw Inc Cl-A	DSW - Snapshot Report	($0.12)	$0.02	7.1%	3/25	BTO	$9.66
Gammon Gold Inc	GRS - Snapshot Report	$0.02	($0.19)	(600.0%)	3/25	AMC	$7.74
Heritage-Crystl	HCCI - Snapshot Report	$0.19	$999.00	15.4%	3/25	AMC	$7.20
Kana Software	KANA	$0.03	$0.01	0.0%	3/25	AMC	$0.62
Orchard Enterpr	ORCD	($0.02)	($0.53)	90.9%	3/25	AMC	$1.70
Paychex Inc	PAYX - Snapshot Report	$0.36	$0.39	(2.5%)	3/25	AMC	$23.15
Red Hat Inc	RHT - Snapshot Report	$0.14	$0.10	84.6%	3/25	AMC	$15.65
Saic Inc	SAI - Snapshot Report	$0.29	$0.25	0.0%	3/25	AMC	$17.23
Solarfun Power	SOLF - Snapshot Report	($0.07)	$0.19	6.7%	3/25	BTO	$3.84
Wuxi Pharmatech	WX - Snapshot Report	$0.06	$0.17	80.0%	3/25	AMC	$4.45
Accenture Ltd	ACN - Snapshot Report	$0.62	$0.64	8.8%	3/26	AMC	$30.53
Aryx Therapeut	ARYX - Snapshot Report	($0.62)	($0.80)	(43.3%)	3/26	N/A	$2.55
Best Buy	BBY - Analyst Report	$1.39	$1.71	29.6%	3/26	BTO	$33.58
Conmed Healthcr	CMHM	$0.01	$999.00	(200.0%)	3/26	AMC	$2.15
Conns Inc	CONN - Snapshot Report	$0.60	$0.58	(38.9%)	3/26	BTO	$13.59
Cornerstone Thr	CRTX - Analyst Report	($0.21)	($2.70)	48.0%	3/26	BTO	$3.01
Dr Pepper Snapl	DPS - Analyst Report	$0.38	$999.00	(13.5%)	3/26	BTO	$14.67
Embraer Air-Adr	ERJ - Analyst Report	$1.11	$1.08	(27.3%)	3/26	AMC	$12.83
Finish Line-Cla	FINL - Snapshot Report	$0.31	$0.45	(33.3%)	3/26	BTO	$5.78
Freds Inc	FRED - Analyst Report	$0.22	$0.14	0.0%	3/26	BTO	$11.77
Gamestop Corp	GME - Analyst Report	$1.34	$1.14	2.7%	3/26	BTO	$25.42
Lennar Corp -A	LEN - Snapshot Report	($0.71)	($0.56)	3.8%	3/26	BTO	$8.50
Lululemon Athlt	LULU - Snapshot Report	$0.15	$0.21	8.3%	3/26	AMC	$6.76
Rosetta Genomic	ROSG - Snapshot Report	($0.28)	($0.24)	7.4%	3/26	BTO	$2.50
Smart Modular	SMOD - Snapshot Report	($0.01)	$0.17	300.0%	3/26	AMC	$1.30
Spectrum Contrl	SPEC	$0.20	$0.13	5.3%	3/26	AMC	$6.52
Synnex Corp	SNX - Snapshot Report	$0.52	$0.51	14.3%	3/26	AMC	$16.99
Synta Pharmact	SNTA - Snapshot Report	($0.83)	($0.46)	(21.9%)	3/26	BTO	$2.00
Tibco Software	TIBX - Snapshot Report	$0.06	$0.06	17.6%	3/26	AMC	$5.31
Uti Worldwide	UTIW - Snapshot Report	$0.24	$0.24	2.9%	3/26	BTO	$13.09
Vcg Holding Cp	VCGH - Snapshot Report	$0.08	$0.02	(9.1%)	3/26	BTO	$1.50
Wet Seal Inc -A	WTSLA - Analyst Report	$0.07	$0.13	16.7%	3/26	BTO	$3.27
Xinyuan Real Es	XIN - Snapshot Report	$0.04	($1.46)	N/A	3/26	BTO	$5.18

BTO = Before The Market Open, AMC = After The Market Close

¹Some of the companies listed in the earnings calendar may not be in the Zacks Rank universe.