Earnings Preview for June 15 - 19

We will see initial second-quarter numbers with Adobe Systems (ADBE - Analyst Report), Best Buy (BBY - Analyst Report), Carnival (CCL - Analyst Report), FedEx (FDX - Analyst Report) and J.M. Smucker (SJM - Snapshot Report) reporting this week. Notably missing from the group are the investment bankers, the surviving members of which have changed to traditional calendar quarters.

Though there are five S&P 500 companies reporting, the earnings calendar is pretty light. Just 23 companies are confirmed to report.

Conversely, the economic calendar is fairly busy. We'll see the producer and consumer price indexes, housing data and the Phili Fed survey.

• Monday: Empire State manufacturing index, NAHB housing index
• Tuesday: May housing starts and building permits, May PPI, May industrial production and capacity utilization
• Wednesday: May CPI, weekly crude inventories
• Thursday: May Leading Indicators, Phili Fed survey, weekly initial jobless claims

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak at a financial literacy summit in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday morning. Also speaking this week are Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, Governor Daniel K. Tarullo, Governor Elizabeth Duke and Governor Kevin Warsh.

On Monday morning, Evans will talk about the financial crisis with the Executives Club of Chicago Joint Committee. Also on Monday morning, Tarullo will appearing at a bankers' convention on Monday morning to discuss risk regulation. That evening, Duke will lecture about the Fed's response to the financial crisis at the Women in Housing and Finance Annual Meeting.

Warsh will speak to a different bankers' convention on Tuesday. He will discuss economic policy and the financial markets.

Friday is a quadruple witching day, meaning option and futures contracts will expire. This could lead to higher volatility.

What should be interesting to see is whether we get some end-of-quarter window dressing by fund managers. Many have been sitting on the sidelines - as is evident by the light volume - and are likely underperforming their benchmarks. This raises the possibility that we could see managers buying "good" stocks to make their portfolio holdings look better.

Keep an eye on commodities and bonds. Commodities have been very strong and treasury yields may come down after having just set short-term highs.

Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises

Adobe Systems (ADBE - Analyst Report) has delivered positive surprises during 7 of the last 9 quarters. (Its fiscal first-quarter numbers matched expectations.) Though the consensus earnings estimate is unchanged at 28 cents per share, the most accurate estimate is higher at 30 cents per share. This suggests another good report could be forthcoming. Adobe is scheduled to report on Tuesday, Jun 16, after the close of trading.

Best Buy (BBY - Analyst Report) has benefited from the demise of Circuit City, having topped expectations for 2 consecutive quarters. Three of the covering brokerage analysts think the company may deliver another upside surprise and have raised their fiscal first-quarter estimates as a result. These revisions have led to a most accurate estimate of 34 cents per share, which is a penny better than the consensus earnings estimate. Best Buy is scheduled to report on Tuesday, Jun 16, before the start of trading.

Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises

During the past few weeks, 2 analysts have cut their fiscal fourth-quarter profit forecasts on FedEx (FDX - Analyst Report). The negative revisions have resulted in a most accurate estimate of 47 cents per share, which is 5 cents below the fiscal fourth-quarter consensus earnings estimate. FDX has missed twice during the past 4 quarters. FedEx is scheduled to report on Wednesday, Jun 17, before the start of trading.

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

Earnings Calendar

Here is a list of companies that we have confirmed will report during the week of Jun 15 - 19¹. Prices are as of Thursday's, Jun 11, market close.

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.