Earnings Preview for Nov 24 - 28

Companies that could issue positive surprises include Dollar Tree Inc. (DLTR - Snapshot Report), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - Analyst Report) and Netezza Corporation (NZ - Snapshot Report). CBRL Group Inc (CBRL - Snapshot Report) and Eaton Vance Corporation (EV - Snapshot Report) could potentially disappoint investors.

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The Week's Events

The U.S. financial markets will be closed on Thursday in observance of Thanksgiving. On Friday, Nov 28, stock exchanges will close at 1 p.m. ET.

As would be expected for a holiday-shortened week, the financial calendar is pretty light.

Only 62 companies have been confirmed to report. Joining Dow component Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - Analyst Report) will be fellow S&P 500 members Analog Devices (ADI - Analyst Report), Campbell Soup (CPB - Analyst Report), Deere & Co. (DE - Analyst Report), D.R. Horton (DHI - Analyst Report) and Tiffany & Co. (TIF - Analyst Report).

Much of the week's economic data will be released on Wednesday morning because of the holiday. Key reports will include existing and new home sales and durable goods orders.

• Monday: October existing home sales
• Tuesday: November Conference Board consumer confidence, preliminary third-quarter GDP
• Wednesday: October new home sales, October durable goods, October personal income and spending, November Chicago PMI, final November University of Michigan consumer confidence, weekly crude inventories, weekly initial jobless claims

No Fed members are scheduled to deliver speeches.

I expect the markets to remain volatile throughout the week, especially with volume being below average on Wednesday. It's a short week and investors should use it to spend time with family and friends.

On behalf of everyone at Zacks, have a happy Thanksgiving.

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Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises

Dollar Tree Inc. (DLTR - Snapshot Report) reported a 6.2% rise in same-store sales for the third quarter, helped by increased customer traffic and higher spending during Halloween. Total sales rose more than 11% to $1.11 billion, prompting 3 of the 9 covering brokerage analysts to raise their profit forecasts. These revisions pushed the consensus earnings estimate up by a penny to 44 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is slightly more bullish at 45 cents per share. The company has topped consensus estimates for 4 consecutive quarters. Dollar Tree is scheduled to report earnings on Tuesday, Nov 25, before the open of trading.

Netezza Corporation (NZ - Snapshot Report) has topped consensus earnings estimate for 4 consecutive quarters. Ahead of the company’s third-quarter report, one brokerage analyst has raised his forecast. The revision was not enough to move the consensus earnings estimate from 4 cents per share, but it did result in a most accurate estimate of 5 cents per share. Netezza is scheduled to report earnings on Tuesday, Nov 25, after the close of trading.

Last week, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - Analyst Report) preannounced non-GAAP fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $1.03 per share. Revisions by 6 brokerage analysts pushed the consensus earnings estimate up to $1.02 per share. HPQ has topped expectations for 16 consecutive quarters and another positive surprise seems likely.

How traders will respond to the company's fiscal 2009 outlook is unknown. HPQ's preliminary fiscal 2009 forecast calls for non-GAAP earnings of $3.88 to $4.03 per share. Cuts by 6 brokerage analysts last week lowered the consensus earnings estimate by 10 cents to $3.84 per share, however. Hewlett-Packard is scheduled to report on Monday, Nov 24, after the close of trading.

Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises

CBRL Group Inc (CBRL - Snapshot Report) has missed disappointed investors during 3 out of the last 4 quarters. Several analysts have cut their projections for the company recently, amid fears of further weakness in the casual dining sector. The average forecast for the third quarter is now pegged at 51 cents per share, down from 55 cents a month ago. The most accurate estimate is slightly more bearish at 50 cents per share. CBRL Group is scheduled to report earnings on Monday, Nov 24, before the start of trading.

Eaton Vance Corporation (EV - Snapshot Report) is getting hit amid the bearish outlook for the wider asset management industry. The consensus estimate for EV’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings has been cut to 35 cents during the past 30 days, reflecting cuts by 5 brokerage analysts. The most accurate estimate is more bearish at 34 cents per share. Eaton Vance is scheduled to report earnings on Tueday, Nov 25, before the start of trading.

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

Aditi Samajpati contributed to this article.

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Earnings Calendar

Here is a list of companies that we have confirmed will report during the week of Nov 24 - 28¹. Prices are as of Thursday's, Nov 20, close.

Company	Ticker	Zacks Consensus Estimate	Year Ago Actual	Last Qtr Surprise	Report Date	Report Time	Price
Analog Devices	ADI - Analyst Report	$0.45	$0.39	(2.2%)	11/24/2008	AMC	$16.94
Atwood Oceanics	ATW - Snapshot Report	$1.13	$0.85	2.2%	11/24/2008	AMC	$15.34
Campbell Soup	CPB - Analyst Report	$0.76	$0.70	4.0%	11/24/2008	BTO	$35.42
Cbrl Group Inc	CBRL - Snapshot Report	$0.51	$0.57	(1.1%)	11/24/2008	BTO	$11.77
Chinaedu Cp-Adr	CEDU - Snapshot Report	$0.05	N/A	0.0%	11/24/2008	AMC	$3.77
Citi Trends Inc	CTRN - Analyst Report	($0.11)	($0.04)	17.6%	11/24/2008	AMC	$8.04
Donaldson Co	DCI - Snapshot Report	$0.57	$0.53	(1.6%)	11/24/2008	AMC	$24.38
Dycom Inds	DY - Snapshot Report	$0.21	$0.37	9.5%	11/24/2008	AMC	$5.13
Hewlett Packard	HPQ - Analyst Report	$1.02	$0.86	3.6%	11/24/2008	AMC	$31.83
Ituran Location	ITRN - Snapshot Report	$0.23	$0.16	(4.8%)	11/24/2008	BTO	$6.21
Nuance Comm Inc	NUAN - Snapshot Report	$0.18	$0.18	58.3%	11/24/2008	AMC	$6.50
Skillsoft Plc	SKIL - Snapshot Report	$0.10	$0.08	42.9%	11/24/2008	AMC	$6.54
Star Bulk Carrs	SBLK - Snapshot Report	$0.40	N/A	0.0%	11/24/2008	AMC	$2.18
Univl Tech Inst	UTI - Analyst Report	$0.06	$0.08	(160.0%)	11/24/2008	AMC	$14.34
Valspar Corp	VAL - Analyst Report	$0.43	$0.43	0.0%	11/24/2008	BTO	$14.57
Amer Eagle Outf	AEO - Snapshot Report	$0.30	$0.45	3.6%	11/25/2008	BTO	$7.11
Amer Woodmark	AMWD - Snapshot Report	($0.06)	$0.08	(90.9%)	11/25/2008	BTO	$14.04
Bank Montreal	BMO - Snapshot Report	$1.16	$1.41	(19.2%)	11/25/2008	N/A	$25.70
Blue Coat Sys	BCSI - Snapshot Report	$0.11	$0.19	0.0%	11/25/2008	AMC	$7.26
Borders Group	BGP - Snapshot Report	($0.54)	($0.66)	35.7%	11/25/2008	AMC	$1.37
Brown Shoe Co	BWS - Snapshot Report	$0.17	$0.61	(16.7%)	11/25/2008	BTO	$5.19
Charming Shoppe	CHRS - Snapshot Report	($0.36)	($0.03)	400.0%	11/25/2008	BTO	$0.76
Chicos Fas Fnc	CHS - Snapshot Report	($0.02)	$0.11	0.0%	11/25/2008	BTO	$1.89
China Sunergy	CSUN - Snapshot Report	$0.10	($0.11)	166.7%	11/25/2008	BTO	$1.54
Coldwater Creek	CWTR - Snapshot Report	($0.08)	($0.07)	200.0%	11/25/2008	AMC	$1.05
D R Horton Inc	DHI - Analyst Report	($1.79)	($0.16)	22.3%	11/25/2008	BTO	$4.52
Daktronics Inc	DAKT - Snapshot Report	$0.20	$0.19	33.3%	11/25/2008	BTO	$6.35
Delias Inc	DLIA - Snapshot Report	$0.07	$0.00	5.9%	11/25/2008	AMC	$1.65
Dollar Tree Inc	DLTR - Snapshot Report	$0.44	$0.38	5.0%	11/25/2008	BTO	$34.18
Dsw Inc Cl-A	DSW - Snapshot Report	$0.28	$0.51	127.3%	11/25/2008	BTO	$8.23
Eaton Vance	EV - Snapshot Report	$0.35	$0.52	(13.0%)	11/25/2008	BTO	$12.36
Elbit Systems	ESLT - Snapshot Report	$0.81	$0.62	4.3%	11/25/2008	BTO	$39.93
Fleetwood Entrp	FLE	($0.44)	($0.02)	(127.8%)	11/25/2008	BTO	$0.15
Genesco Inc	GCO - Snapshot Report	$0.51	$0.39	350.0%	11/25/2008	BTO	$11.40
Hillenbrand Inc	HI - Snapshot Report	$0.31	N/A	N/A	11/25/2008	BTO	$14.42
Hormel Foods Cp	HRL - Snapshot Report	$0.48	$0.70	0.0%	11/25/2008	BTO	$26.69
Indevus Pharma	IDEV	($0.15)	($0.12)	(8.7%)	11/25/2008	BTO	$1.82
J Crew Group	JCG - Snapshot Report	$0.28	$0.42	(15.2%)	11/25/2008	AMC	$8.89
Netezza Corp	NZ - Snapshot Report	$0.04	$0.02	66.7%	11/25/2008	AMC	$5.82
Qad Inc	QADI - Snapshot Report	$0.00	$0.05	0.0%	11/25/2008	AMC	$3.90
Seachange Intl	SEAC - Snapshot Report	$0.06	$0.11	66.7%	11/25/2008	AMC	$6.77
Sourceforge Inc	LNUX - Snapshot Report	($0.03)	$0.00	(300.0%)	11/25/2008	AMC	$0.65
Talbots Inc	TLB - Snapshot Report	$0.04	($0.10)	0.0%	11/25/2008	BTO	$2.15
Tech Data Corp	TECD - Analyst Report	$0.64	$0.73	(2.2%)	11/25/2008	BTO	$15.99
Tivo Inc	TIVO - Analyst Report	($0.06)	($0.08)	250.0%	11/25/2008	AMC	$5.08
Utd Natural Fds	UNFI - Analyst Report	$0.30	$0.32	0.0%	11/25/2008	BTO	$18.39
Verigy Ltd	VRGY - Snapshot Report	$0.15	$0.57	3.6%	11/25/2008	AMC	$8.24
Vimpel-Comm-Adr	VIP - Analyst Report	$0.47	$0.45	(8.0%)	11/25/2008	BTO	$6.99
Warner Music Gp	WMG - Snapshot Report	($0.02)	$0.01	62.5%	11/25/2008	BTO	$2.66
Zale Corp New	ZLC - Snapshot Report	($0.96)	($0.54)	11.11%	11/25/2008	BTO	$8.08
China Nepstar	NPD - Snapshot Report	$0.05	$0.04	N/A	11/26/2008	BTO	$2.87
Conns Inc	CONN - Snapshot Report	$0.21	$0.28	7.9%	11/26/2008	BTO	$6.72
Deere & Co	DE - Analyst Report	$0.99	$0.94	(3.7%)	11/26/2008	BTO	$28.77
Descartes Sys	DSGX - Snapshot Report	$0.05	$0.03	(40.0%)	11/26/2008	BTO	$2.28
Elong Inc-Adr	LONG - Snapshot Report	($0.08)	($0.04)	(800.0%)	11/26/2008	N/A	$6.89
Freds Inc	FRED - Analyst Report	$0.15	$0.12	0.0%	11/26/2008	BTO	$8.74
Shamir Optical	SHMR - Snapshot Report	$0.11	$0.14	45.5%	11/26/2008	BTO	$3.03
Tiffany & Co	TIF - Analyst Report	$0.27	$0.27	14.6%	11/26/2008	BTO	$17.86
Yingli Green En	YGE - Snapshot Report	$0.23	$0.18	19.0%	11/26/2008	BTO	$2.56
Frontline Ltd	FRO - Snapshot Report	$1.70	$0.26	(8.4%)	11/28/2008	N/A	$25.19
Golar Lng Ltd	GLNG - Snapshot Report	$0.08	($0.14)	(100.0%)	11/28/2008	N/A	$4.08

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

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