Top Earnings Previews For The Week Ahead (FMCN, COCO, HNZ, TSL, WSM, AEO, AMAT, GES, TOL, ENER, KKD, OVTI, P)

Earnings season has mostly wound down as far as the big market movers but there are still many companies dribbling out earnings reports.  This coming week we have many companies that still matter which are due to release earnings and we would expect that these could be the big movers next week.

The top reports for the coming week are as follows: Focus Media Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: FMCN); Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO); H J Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ); Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL); Williams Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM); American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO); Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT); Guess Inc. (NYSE: GES); Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL); Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER); Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD); Omnivision Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI); and Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P).

We have compiled previews using Thomson Reuters estimates, shown price data on each and added color if applicable.

Monday, August 22

Focus Media Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: FMCN) has estimates of $0.37 EPS and $162.7 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.43 EPS and $174 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $28.02 and the 52-week trading range is $17.71 to $37.58.  So far, Focus has managed to avoid the China bashing trades because it is more established and investors believe that it is one of the real-deal companies.  Valuations still remain high but that is because growth expectations remain here for the long-term.

Tuesday, August 23

Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO) has estimates of $0.11 EPS and $427.6 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.15 EPS and $427.02 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $2.36 and the 52-week trading range is $2.315 (hit on Friday) to $7,35.  Just another down and out education stock.

H J Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) has estimates of $0.76 EPS and $2.78 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.85 EPS and $2.89 billion in revenues.  Shares are trading around $52.20 and the 52-week trading range is $45.52 to $55.00.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) has estimates of $0.47 EPS and $599.44 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.60 EPS and $644.43 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $13.75 and the 52-week trading range is $12.75 (hit Friday) to $31.89.  What can the solar sector look forward to right now?

Williams Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) has estimates of $0.36 EPS and $823.97 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.39 EPS and $861.24 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $28.90 and the 52-week trading range is $24.57 to $45.48.  It has been impossible to not notice the sell-off here in this cyclical retailer that does less-good in had times and scores in boom-times.  The stock has suffered handily since July when Goldman Sachs raised its ratings in a solid outlook call.

Wednesday, August 24

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) has estimates of $0.11 EPS and $650.78 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.27 EPS and $766.95 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $11.10 and the 52-week trading range is $10.80 to $17.46.  With this one down so close to a year low, we wonder how much softness is not already priced into the shares already.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) has estimates of $0.33 EPS and $2.68 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.33 EPS and $2.66 billion in revenues.  Shares are trading around $11.00 and the 52-week trading range is $10.27 to $16.93.  Applied is the king of semiconductor cap-ex spending.  The stock has lost one-third of its peak value and it is valued at low earnings multiples as are so many key technology stocks.  The question is simple… Even as chips have to migrate smaller and smaller for consumer electronics, laptops, netbooks, tablets, and smartphones, are chip companies going to keep spending more on cap-ex as the economy is slowing?

Guess Inc. (NYSE: GES) has estimates of $0.81 EPS and $656.38 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.85 EPS and $689.92 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $31.00 and the 52-week trading range is $30.44 to $51.53.  It is rare to see this apparel and retailer down 40% from highs yet here we are.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) has estimates of $0.03 EPS and $406.28 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.07 EPS and $439.22 million in revenues.  Wait a minute… POSITIVE EARNINGS?  It seems so.  Shares are trading around $15.23 and the 52-week trading range is $15.13 (hit Friday) to $22.42.

Thursday, August 25

Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) has estimates of -$0.54 EPS and $39.22 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are -$0.41 EPS and $52.54 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $0.70 and the 52-week trading range is $0.67 (hit Friday) to $5.38.  Seeing the bankruptcy of Evergreen Solar this last week has many investors wondering which other players in alternative energy are at risk.  A guest on CNBC threw this company name out there this week as one that was at risk as well.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) has estimates of $0.06 EPS and $92.26 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.06 EPS and $94.87 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $7.37 and the 52-week trading range is $3.55 to $10.08.

Omnivision Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) has estimates of $0.72 EPS and $276.59 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.82 EPS and $306.37 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $24.15 and the 52-week trading range is $18.42 to $37.04.  This one has sold off despite its expected growth due to the growth of cameras on smartphones (and regular phones).

Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) has estimates of $0.00 EPS and $60.26 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are -$0.01 EPS and $68.23 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $13.20 and the post-IPO trading range is $11.00 to $26.00.  This will mark Pandora’s first true earnings report.  Many have questioned the model.  The more it grows, the more its costs rise.  There is a question of scalability here.  Our big question is that we have no way to know if the company’s estimates by analysts are representative of reality or if the numbers will be grossly different.

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JON C. OGG