#$kkd

5 Trade ideas excerpted from the detailed analysis and plan for premium subscribers

Deere, Ticker: $DE

Deere, $DE, dropped with the market in August and then traded sideways in a $10 range for 6 months. It popped up higher, into its gap, in March but quickly receded. Finding support at a higher low it moved back higher in April. It is now consolidating at the prior high. The RSI is in the bullish zone and the MACD rising, both supporting more upside. Look for a break of resistance to participate higher.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Ticker: $KKD

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, $KKD, started a move lower in July 2015, finding a bottom in November. a brief bounce saw it then fall back and retest that low. It worked back higher then over the December bounce, confirming a double bottom. It gapped higher two weeks ago and has consolidated, holding the gap. The RSI is strong and in the bullish zone while the MACD is rising. Both support a continuation higher. Look for a break of consolidation to the upside to participate.

Monsanto, Ticker: $MON

Monsanto, $MON, made a high just under 125 in May 2015 before a 5 month pullback. That shed 35% of its market cap. It bounced from there to 100 but failed to go any further falling back. But the pullback was to a higher low. It has been consolidating since between 84 and 96. The RSI has now moved into the bullish zone and the MACD is rising, supporting a push higher. Look for a break of the consolidation to participate.

ON Semiconductor, Ticker: $ON

ON Semiconductor, $ON, was a Top 10 Idea from last week to the upside. It broke higher and then failed. Now it shows up as a potential downside trade. It consolidated after the move higher and at the end of last week finished with a strong move lower. The RSI is falling and the MACD dropping after crossing down. Look for a break of consolidation to participate to the downside.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, Ticker: $TD

Toronto-Dominion Bank, $TD, made a low in January and after some chop through February has been moving steadily higher. Last week saw it consolidate, perhaps preparing for another leg higher. The RSI is in the bullish zone and the MACD is drifting higher. Look for a break of consolidation to participate to the upside.

After reviewing over 1,000 charts, I have found some good setups for the week. These were selected and should be viewed in the context of the broad Market Macro picture reviewed Friday which as the calendar turns to May sees the equity markets are looking worn out and in general better to the downside.

Elsewhere look for Gold to continue its uptrend while Crude Oil moves higher as well. The US Dollar Index is on the cusp of a major breakdown while US Treasuries churn with a bias to break to the upside. The Shanghai Composite looks to continue to consolidate along with Emerging Markets but look for the latter to be biased to eventually break that consolidation higher.

Volatility looks to remain subdued but not at the lows keeping the bias higher for the equity index ETF’s SPY, IWM and QQQ, despite the moves lower. Their charts are more mixed with the QQQ firmly heading lower, the SPY pulling back in its uptrend and the IWM stalling. Use this information as you prepare for the coming week and trad’em well.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (KKD) Consumer Discretionary - Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure | Reports March 22, After Market Closes

Key Takeaways

The Estimize consensus calls for EPS of $0.19, 8% higher than Wall Street, with revenue expectations of $134.14 million, roughly $1 million below the Street

As Americans become more health conscious, sugary treats such as doughnuts have begun to lose favor to spinach and kale

Yet Krispy Kreme still plans to open 130 new stores, 20 domestic and 110 international, by the end of fiscal 2016

What are you expecting for KKD? Get your estimate in here!

As Americans become more health conscious, sugary treats such as doughnuts have begun to lose favor to spinach and kale. This comes to the displeasure of iconic doughnut maker, Krispy Kreme (KKD) who is due to report fourth quarter earnings tomorrow, after the closing bell. The past year has been a mixed bag of good and bad earnings, with the Estimize community expecting a slight beat tomorrow.

The Estimize consensus calls for EPS of $0.19, one penny higher than Wall Street, with revenue expectations of $134.14 million, roughly $1 million below the Street. Krispy Kreme is expected to maintain respectable year over year growth with earnings predicted to grow 11% on a 7% increase in sales. The Estimize community has been optimistic regarding profitability, revising EPS estimates up 6% since the company last reported. On average, Krispy Kreme consistently beats expectations, trumping Estimize 42% and Wall Street 56% of recorded quartersThis past year has been full of ups and (mostly) downs for Krispy Kreme. The iconic doughnut chain is coming off a mixed third quarter in which it missed on the top line but beat its earnings expectations. Domestic same store sales rose 3.4% while international franchise same store sales declined 3.7% as the negative effects of a stronger U.S. dollar continue to take their toll. The company’s biggest problem lately hasn’t been profitability, but revenues, which have missed expectations in each of the last 3 quarters. Consequently, shares have dropped 20.8% in the past 12 months.

It’s well known that Krispy Kreme has suffered in recent years as the U.S. undergoes a systemic shift in consumer preferences. Americans are increasingly opting for healthy snacks over sugary treats like doughnuts and other baked goods. Even so, Krispy Kreme is taking an aggressive stance in its short term expansion. The company expects to open 20 new domestic franchise stores and over 100 to 110 new international stores by the end of fiscal 2016. Moreover, Krispy Kreme has maintained a clean balance sheet, ending the most recent quarter with $37 million in cash and less than $12 million in debt. If the company can deliver on its growth strategy and maintain sound financials, investors may recoup their losses. Do you think KKD can beat estimates? There is still time to get your estimate in here!

We’re officially at the crossover point for earnings season, with some stragglers still reporting for Q4, such as Krispy Kreme and GameStop, while a handful of names, including Nike, Finish Line and Red Hat are beginning to report for the first quarter.

Tuesday, March 22

Thursday, March 24

Nike (NKE)

Consumer Discretionary - Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods | Reports March 22, after the close.

The Estimize community is looking for EPS of $0.50 and revenue of $8.2 billion, 2 cents higher than Wall Street on the bottom-line, in-line on the top-line. Nike is seeing adverse revisions activity lately with earnings estimates falling 7% in the past three months. Still, the footwear company is predicted to see favorable year-over-year earnings growth of 11% and sales growth of 10%.

What to Watch: Just ahead of its FQ3 2016 report, Nike introduced the first-ever power lacing sneaker, an ode to Marty Mcfly in Back to the Future. Nike’s creative and innovative prowess has been leaps and bounds ahead of the competition in recent years, solidifying its staunch market position in the footwear industry. In the past 12 months the footwear giant has rode 4 consecutive earnings beats to a 29.6% increase in share price.

Like most retailers, Nike’s growth strategy has focused on developing its digital and ecommerce channels. In the first half of this fiscal year, digital sales grew 48% YoY on a constant currency basis. Online sales have also driven growth in Nike’s key Direct to Consumer segment. At its current pace, Nike is expecting digital revenue to reach $7 billion on $50 billion of total revenue by 2020. The company is also investing in 3D printing, with the goal of allowing customers to one day print sneakers from home.

The biggest obstacles the footwear giant is facing include stiffening competition, stagnant spending trends in the US and a slowdown in China (the company’s fastest growing region, responsible for nearly 15% of total sales). From a competitive standpoint, the rapidly growing Under Armour brand has been Nike’s biggest threat. With Tom Brady and Stephen Curry representing the brand, the two hottest athletes in their respective sports, experts believe other top athletes will begin to change allegiances to Under Armour from Nike. For the time being, Nike still remains the preeminent player at the moment, with a portfolio of star athletes in all major sports, a rapidly growing digital channel and a list of new innovative products on the way.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD)

Consumer Discretionary - Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure | Reports March 22, after the close.

The Estimize consensus calls for EPS of $0.19, a penny higher than Wall Street, with revenue expectations of $134.35 million, roughly $1.5 million below the Street. Krispy Kreme is expected to maintain respectable year over year growth with earnings predicted to grow 12% on a 7% increase in sales. The Estimize community has been optimistic regarding profitability, revising EPS estimates up 6% since the company last reported. On average, Krispy Kreme consistently beats expectations, trumping Estimize 44% and Wall Street 54% of recorded quarters

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What To Watch: This past year has been full of ups and (mostly) downs for Krispy Kreme. The iconic donut chain is coming off a mixed third quarter in which it missed on the top line but beat its earnings expectations. Domestic same store sales rose 3.4% while international franchise same store sales declined 3.7% as the negative effects of a stronger U.S. dollar continue to take their toll. The company’s biggest problem lately hasn’t been profitability, but revenues, which have missed expectations in each of the last 3 quarters. Consequently, shares have dropped 20.8% in the past 12 months. It’s well known that Krispy Kreme has suffered in recent years as the U.S. undergoes a systemic shift in consumer preferences. Americans are increasingly opting for healthy snacks over sugary treats like doughnuts and other baked goods. Even so, Krispy Kreme is taking an aggressive stance in its short term expansion. The company expects to open 20 new domestic franchise stores and over 100 to 110 new international stores by the end of fiscal 2016. Moreover, Krispy Kreme has maintained a clean balance sheet, ending the most recent quarter with $37 million in cash and less than $12 million in debt. If the company can deliver on its growth strategy and maintain sound financials, investors may recoup their losses.

Red Hat (RHT)

Consumer Discretionary - Specialty Retail | Reports March 24, after the close.

The Estimize consensus calls for EPS of $0.48, one cent above Wall Street and guidance, while revenue expectations of $337 million are $1.35 million above the Street and roughly in-line with guidance. However, our Select Consensus is even higher than the mean, with EPS expectations of $0.49 and revenues of $538.8 million. The Estimize community has been slightly bearish on Red Hat’s  earnings in the past three months, revising EPS estimates down 2%. Still, these estimates predict as a YoY increase of 14% on the bottom line, while sales are expected to grow 16%. Red Hat has consistently outperformed expectations, beating  both the Estimize EPS and revenues consensus 71% of the time.

Red Hat is one of the leaders in open source technology and has been hard at work making improvements to many of its services. Most of the focus has been on the cloud, as RHT looks to provide a solid support base and a cost friendly platform which includes applications, middleware, desktop domains, and an operating system. Late last year, the company made its Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) available on Microsoft’s Azure cloud and has made support available for Microsoft Azure on its CloudForms hybrid cloud management system. Cloud subscription services alone bring in close to $100 million in revenue, the integration with Azure will certainly add to this figure. Furthermore, Red Hat has been working with Alcatel-Lucent, a French global telecommunications equipment company. The two came to an agreement in December, in which their pre-existing partnership on CloudBand, Alcatel-Lucent’s platform for network functions virtualization (NFV), and RHEL, would be expanded upon. Essentially, Red Hat will assist Alcatel-Lucent with the task of improving NFV based features in the telecommunications realm within open source.

Finish Line (FINL)

Consumer Discretionary - Specialty Retail | Reports March 24, before the open.

The Estimize consensus calls for EPS of $0.81, in-line with Wall Street and guidance, with revenue expectations of $570.7 million, about $1 million less than the Street. The Select Consensus on the other hand, is right in line with Wall Street on the bottom line, but is expecting sales of $572.7 million. The Estimize community has maintained a pessimistic stance on profitability, revising EPS estimates down 16% in the past 3 months and 5% in the past month. It comes as no surprise that current estimates forecast a 8% YoY decline on the bottom line while sales are looking to rise a meager 3%.

What to Watch: Finish Line is coming off a rough third quarter in which it missed on both the top and bottom line by a mile. Both Estimize and Wall Street had expected marginal losses in the the single digits for the quarter, but ultimately Finish Line posted EPS of -$0.49 and missed on the top line by $20 million. As a result, shares have taken a beating, falling 26.8% in the past 6 months. The company’s third quarter performance was severely impacted by a disruption in its supply chain following the implementation of a new enterprise management system. Finish Line ended the quarter with net sales decreasing 3.5% on a YoY basis and comp sales down 5.8%. One way FINL intends to improve profitability is by shutting the doors on 150 of its worst performing stores, or 25% of its store base, in the next 4 years. On the competitive front, Sports Authority’s recent bankruptcy creates some customer acquisition opportunities for Finish Line, but Foot Locker still remains the biggest threat. Finish Line maintains a sound balance sheet, ending the most recent quarter with no interest bearing debt and $55.3 million in cash and cash equivalents.

GameStop (GME)

Consumer Discretionary - Specialty Retail | Reports March 24, after the close.

The Estimize consensus is calling for EPS of $2.26 and revenue of $3.58 billion, 1 cent higher on the bottom line and $10 million great in sales. However, the Select Consensus is expecting a miss of $11 million on the top line.  The crowdsourced community has been been bearish on Gamestop, revising both EPS and revenue estimates down 6% in the past 3 months. Compared with the previous year, this predicts earnings growth of 5%, while sales are looking to grow by 2%. Historically, the video game retailer has consistently beat expectations, trumping Estimize in 69% and Wall Street in 76% of recorded quarters.

What to Watch: Despite a weak holiday shopping season, Gamestop is hoping year-end sales can give fourth quarter results a much needed lift. Shares received a nice boost last week after management indicated that the company is on pace to beat its fiscal 2015 guidance. However, this hasn’t been enough to reconcile the 28% decline in the stock price over the past 6 months. Gamestop is coming off of a disappointing third quarter with total sales decreasing 3.6%, reflecting a decline in every key segment; next generation hardware fell 20.4%, new software sales declined 9.3% and global comp sales shrank 1.1%. A majority of the contraction was attributed to currency headwinds which cost Gamestop $100 million in sales and 2 cents in earnings per share. Unfortunately, early indications look bleak for the video game industry and Gamestop this quarter. In the past 3 months, overall U.S. software sales reported consecutive declines highlighted by a 10.3% decline in February. Moreover, industry sales of prior generation and portable units declined 74% and 54%, with the only bright spot being next gen hardware. Even so, Gamestop really doesn’t have much direct competition and controls over 50% of the market.

Be sure to get your estimates in for these companies here!

5 Trade ideas excerpted from the detailed analysis and plan for premium subscribers

DaVita Healthcare Partners, Ticker: $DVA

DaVita Healthcare Partners, $DVA, started moving lower in June 2015. After a couple of bumps it started a steady decline in November that found a bottom in February. Since then it has moved higher, making a higher high and consolidating near that prior top. With the RSI bullish and rising and the MACD rising, look to participate in more upside on a break over resistance.

Home Depot, Ticker: $HD

Home Depot, $HD, was on a steady ride higher until the beginning of 2016. The initial pullback saw a bounce and then a push lower to a lower low, before a second bounce. Now back at resistance, and making a higher high Friday, it looks ready for more upside. The RSI is back in the bullish zone and the MACD rising. Look for continuation Monday to participate in the upside.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Ticker: $KKD

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, $KKD, had a great reaction to earnings in June 2015, but then started a nearly immediate downtrend. It hit a bottom in November and bounced only to fall back, making a double bottom in February. Now it is back to resistance and pushing higher. The RSI is rising and bullish with the MACD rising. Both support more upside and look for continued movement over resistance to participate to the upside.

Northern Trust, Ticker: $NTRS

Northern Trust, $NTRS, got hit along with the market in August and consolidated for 2 months before starting a recovery. It made it most of the way back to the prior high but then turned lower again in January. That move found support mid February, and the stock has been rising since. The movement Friday started another leg out of a bull flag, and has support for more upside from a rising RSI and MACD, both in the bullish range. Look for continuation to participate to the upside.

PacWest Bancorp, Ticker: $PACW

PacWest Bancorp, $PACW, started moving lower in December. It found some support in January and bounced only to start lower again to another bottom in February. The reversal higher moved to the prior top before a slight retrenchment and the move to a higher high Friday. The Bollinger Bands® are opening to the upside and the RSI is bullish and rising along with the MACD. Look for continuation to participate in a move higher.

After reviewing over 1,000 charts, I have found some good setups for the week. These were selected and should be viewed in the context of the broad Market Macro picture reviewed Friday which heading into March Options Expiration sees the Equity markets looking strong and ready for more upside.

Elsewhere look for Gold to consolidate in its uptrend while Crude Oil continues higher. The US Dollar Index looks better to the downside short term in consolidation while US Treasuries are biased lower. The Shanghai Composite is consolidating in a broad range while Emerging Markets are biased to the upside.

Volatility looks to remain subdued and falling back to normal levels putting a breeze at the back of the equity index ETF's SPY, IWM and QQQ. Their charts all look good for more upside as well on both timeframes. Use this information as you prepare for the coming week and trad'em well.

Tuesday, December 8

Thursday, December 10

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD)

Consumer Discretionary - Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure | Reports December 8, after the close.

The Estimize consensus calls for EPS of $0.21, 4 cents above the Wall Street estimate. Even revenue estimates of $132.89 are higher than the Street’s expectation for $132.77.

What to watch: In five of the past seven quarters, Krispy Kreme has missed earnings expectations. Despite showing total revenue growth of 5.6% last quarter, the revenues still missed analyst projections by more than $4M. As health concerns are taking over the US, sugary indulgences like donuts have an uncertain future as demand continues to wane. Despite this uncertainty, the company continues to expand as new stores are popping up and same store sales increased annually by 5.5%. If the company is experiencing revenue and sales growth, what is the problem? Part of Krispy Kreme’s earnings dilemma is its business model. Unlike major competitor Dunkin Brands, Krispy Kreme does not operate a full franchise model.  Rather, a majority of stores are company owned. Furthermore, operating margins are weak, hovering around 10%. Krispy Kreme shares are down roughly 30% year to date.

Smith & Wesson (SWHC)

Consumer Discretionary - Leisure Equipment & Products | Reports December 8, after the close.

The Estimize consensus calls for EPS of $0.23, three cents above the Wall Street consensus. Revenues of $139.68M are slightly above the Street’s expectation for $137.90M.

What to watch: For a good part of 2012 and 2013, fears in the US that tighter firearm laws were on the horizon helped drive sales for Smith & Wesson. As those fears began to dissipate in 2014, sales of guns and ammunition suffered. This year, however, Smith & Wesson has returned to year-over-year earnings and revenue growth, putting up double-digit EPS growth of 23% and sales growth of 12% in their latest quarter. During that period the company saw higher sales in both the firearm and accessories divisions, with firearms driven by robust orders for “M&P 15 Sport rifles, Thompson/Center Venture bolt-action rifles and M&P Shield polymer pistols." That growth should have carried over into the reporting quarter, as Q3 2015 Federal background checks were up 4% year-over-year, with the FBI processing a record of 1.98M applications in October alone. Even so, competitors such as Sturm, Ruger & Co. reported a 13 cent miss on EPS when they reported two weeks ago, yet beat on sales.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)

Consumer Staples - Food & Staples Retailing | Reports December 8, after the close.

The Estimize consensus calls for EPS of $1.20, three cents above the Wall Street consensus. Revenues are a little more muted, with Estimize looking for $27.81B -- only $179M, or less than 1%, above the Street’s expectation.

What to watch: Costco will have some momentum heading into its report next week. Just yesterday the bulk grocery chain posted better than expected same store sales for the month of November. Comparable store sales for the last month of the fiscal Q1 2016 only came in flat, but that was better than the -1% analysts were anticipating. The retailer has been hurt by lower gasoline sales due to price deflation, as well as the negative impact of foreign currency translation. Excluding both of those factors same store sales ended up at 6% versus the year-ago period. Costco has been able to maintain a steady traffic pattern due to its loyal membership base, although there have been concerns around deep discounts and promotions as they engage in a pricing war with competitors such as Wal-Mart and Target. American Express was recently dropped as the exclusive credit card accepted at Costco due to the high transaction fees, the company instead striking a deal with Visa and Citigroup. This new deal will cut credit card fees close to zero and the savings will not be minuscule by any means. Investors should expect updates on the massive E. Coli scare that has affected Costco, many of it’s competitors, as well restaurants such as Starbucks and Chipotle, and has lead to the recall of over 155k items.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (PLAY)

Consumer Discretionary - Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure | Reports December 8, after the close.

The Estimize consensus calls for EPS of $0.05, two cents higher than the Wall Street consensus. The Estimize community is looking for sales of $187.1M, $1.1M above what the Street is expecting.

What to watch: Since IPOing roughly one year ago, Dave & Buster’s share price has surged 143%, from $16 to $38.87 as of December 3rd. The company has excelled in getting customers in the door through great menu offerings and game promotions. Last quarter, PLAY was able to increase total revenues by 20% and comps grew by 11%. To further execute its expansion plans, in late October, D&B announced a new international development project. According to the plans, the company has a franchise agreement with Dubai based Apparel Group. Apparel Group will have the rights to develop Dave & Busters locations within the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Seven locations are scheduled to open within 7 years. Newer locations tend to struggle as opposed to established ones, but the idea of what D&B could do in the Middle East is promising for investors.

Adobe Systems (ADBE)

Information Technology - Software | Reports December 10, after the close.

The Estimize consensus calls for EPS of $0.62, three cents above the Wall Street consensus. Revenues of $1.322M are slightly above the Street’s expectation for $1.306M.

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What to watch: For the last four quarters, Adobe has successfully beaten analysts’ estimates on the bottom line and reported year-over-year growth in the double digits. Revenues have lagged slightly, but still managed to put up growth in the 9% to 21% range for the past three quarters. In Q3 the company reported record revenue due to success in their Marketing Cloud and Creative Cloud segments. As a result, Adobe issued guidance that Marketing Cloud bookings would increase 30% in fiscal 2016, driving total revenues to $5.7B and EPS to $2.70. Just last week, the company’s stock hit a 52-week high after announcing the some exciting new product offerings in its cloud business. One area of focus is the Document Cloud business, with the recent introduction of new features as well as a partnership with Dropbox that will allow users of Adobe Acrobat to efficiently access files stored on Dropbox from Adobe apps.

Be sure to get all of your estimates in here!

Wednesday, September 9

Thursday, September 10

Friday, September 11

Palo Alto Networks (PANW)

The last cybersecurity stock to report for the second quarter season has an Estimize EPS Consensus of $0.26, one cent higher than both Wall Street and corporate guidance. The Estimize community is also looking for higher revenues of $258.12M compared to the Street’s estimate of $255.78M and guidance of $254.00M.

What to watch for: Palo Alto Network has been able to take advantage of the cybersecurity explosion as the frequency of cyber attacks in recent months have created serious concern in many large corporate and government entities. The company has seen an increase in both new subscriptions and renewals of existing contracts. The company has also been expanding and diversifying its product portfolio to cover a large spectrum of different needs, essentially evolving into a one-stop-shop for all cybersecurity services and platforms. Palo Alto’s strategy includes targeting larger corporations, recently releasing its new PA-7080 firewall that caters to large scale companies and governments. These initiatives geared towards increasing scale and power should allow the company to outpace industry growth and outperform competitors. However, PANW stocks dropped with the rest of NASDAQ and tech stocks following the uncertainty with the Chinese macro situation. Whether or not the stock can gain significant upward momentum following its fiscal Q4 results on Wednesday is yet to be seen.

Barnes and Nobles (BKS)

The Estimize EPS Consensus on BKS is in line with Wall Street’s estimate of $0.12. The Estimize Consensus predicts slightly lower revenues of $986.53M compared to the Street’s estimate of $986.60M.

What to watch for: Barnes and Nobles is in an industry that is undergoing significant change. Not only has the demand for paper books and goods gone down significantly, the bookstore industry is transforming traditional store-based companies into multi-channel players. After a lackluster fiscal 2015, the company recently spun off its college segment into Barnes & Noble Education (OTCQB:BNET) to allow for more focus within its operations. Nook, Barnes and Noble’s low performing e-commerce and digital reading initiative is paired with the education segment as well. With the spin-off of this weak segment, the company will begin paying a quarterly dividend of $0.15, an action the company was forced to stop when the Nook division saw deep losses. Fortunately, strong new book releases such as Harry Potter and Fifty Shades of Grey have driven a lot of Barnes and Nobles’ earnings over the years. With Harper Lee’s new book, Go Set a Watchman setting a record for first-day sales, it is possible that this best-selling title could boost Barnes and Nobles’ performance.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD)

The Estimize Consensus calls for EPS of $0.17 compared to the Wall Street consensus of $0.18. The Estimize Consensus predicts revenues of $129.63M compared to the Street’s estimate of $131.08M.

What to watch for: Krispy Kreme, the international doughnut maker who experienced serious financial trouble in 2004 seems to be focusing on expansion strategies that will allow for the company to increase its profits. The company has been increasing its store count over the years, growing its systemwide store count by 19.2% in 2015, and plans to develop more than 700 shops in nontraditional areas and urban markets. KKD is also looking to expand its international footprint, boasting plans of entering six new countries this year. However, sales growth hasn’t been able to translate to greater profits as a result of intense pressure and declining margins. As a result, shares remain depressed and the company has started repurchasing stock in an effort to increase its earnings and share prices.

Lululemon (LULU)

The Estimize EPS Consensus is currently calls for $0.34, in-line with Wall Street, but two pennies higher than corporate guidance. The Estimize Consensus predicts revenues of $442.56M, lower than both the company guidance at $442.50M and the Wall Street consensus at $445.50M.

What to watch for: Lululemon has seen poor earnings results and major PR disasters over the past few years, however, recent optimism surrounding the turnaround of the company seems to be gaining a lot of traction. The athletic apparel retailer has increasingly focused on its fast-growing men’s and children’s segments and recently introduced fashion wear into its stores, a deviation from its normal activewear lines. Not only so, but news of the company’s intention to expand internationally and speculation that Lululemon products could be added to large department stores such as Macy’s have also driven investor confidence. Aside from the company’s potential, investors also note that with $655M in cash and no debt on its balance sheet, LULU is well-positioned to face the difficult market environment and can easily take on leverage if necessary for growth. However, the company is by no means cheap, at $65 a share and with a forward P/E of 35 it’s richer than competitor Nike, but well below the 103 valuation for Under Armour.

Kroger Co (KR)

The Estimize Consensus calls for EPS of $0.40, in-line with the Wall Street consensus. The Estimize Consensus predicts revenues of $25.76B compared to Wall Steet estimates of $25.58B.

What to watch for: Kroger has been intently focused on expanding their natural and organic food business and as a result has been able to steal market share from upscale grocers. The mainstream grocery chain provides value offerings to customers that are no longer willing to spend their whole paycheck at Whole Foods. The company has shown strong fundamentals, with earnings per share (EPS) growth in the double digits for the past five quarters, and double-digit sales growth in four of the past five quarters. Kroger faces some stiff competition from other retailers enforcing the same strategy such as Wal-Mart, Target and Sprouts.

Tuesday - AutoZone

Auto parts retailer AutoZone is set to report Tuesday before the opening bell. Last quarter AutoZone reported an 8% gain in year over year (yoy) earnings per share and a minor drop in total revenue.

Earnings at AutoZone have been growing by a yoy average of 16% each quarter over the past 2 years. In the second quarter of this year that rate of expanson dropped to 8%, it’s lowest reported value in 24 months.

After a brief tumble leading into last quarter’s earnings release date AutoZone stock has picked up steam, climbing 17% since the last report. AutoZone has a history of reporting within a relatively tight range compared to estimates and Tuesday analysts on Estimize are executing AutoZone to get back to it’s winning ways by reporting 15% EPS growth.

Tuesday - Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

The huge trend supporting organic and healthy food options at the expensive of fast food joints continued rolling on Monday. McDonald’s reported an awful sales figure, disclosing that same store sales sank 4.6% in November. Although secular forces appear to be lined against of Krispy Kreme, sales at the glazed doughnut company have been holding up just fine in recent months.

Last quarter Krispy Kreme saw its revenue climb 7%. However, results on the bottom line did not shimmer the same way that sales did. Krispy Kreme’s EPS dropped by 7% last period. In last quarter’s press release CEO Tony Thompson commented that the top line revenue growth was spurred by promotions and increased spending on marketing. Domestic same store sales were up 2.8% and the overall store count rose 3.4% last quarter.

Tuesday analysts on Estimize are looking for Krispy Kreme to improve its margin blues and report a15% EPS increase alongside a 6% hike in total sales.

Wednesday - Lululemon

(Graph above from ChartIQ Visual Earnings)

Since early June 2013 shares of Lululemon have been trending lower. Revenue growth has fallen between a moderate range landing between 7% and 37% each quarter within the past 2 years. This quarter Estimize contributors are looking for $427 million in revenue, or slightly more than a 12% yoy gain. That would be just under last quarter’s 13% sales boost.

On the bottom line the picture is less pretty, and this is likely one of the factors driving the stock price down. Despite erratic revenue growth, profit gains grinding to a halt as more competitors enter the yoga-wear market. Another factor plaguing profitability is that same store sales dropped 5% last period. Operating more stores with fewer sales invariably leads to lower earnings. 

Wednesday - Costco

Costco, the second largest retailer in the United States behind only Walmart reports 3rd quarter earnings on Wednesday. Costco has been steadily growing on the top and bottom line and the giant's fundamentals jolted higher last quarter with growth coming in well above its average levels.

CostCo announces its sales figures monthly on its website. Throughout October and November the wholesaler announced comparable sales growth between 4% and 5%. If it weren’t for the negative impact of the strong US dollar on international sales and deflating gasoline prices that growth would have come in between 6% and 7%. Analysts on Estimize are forecasting CostCo to power through limiting conditions and report a quarter slightly ahead of Wall Street's forecast.

Wednesday - Ciena

Telecommunications networking equipment company Ciena is also set for a Wednesday report. Ciena has now strung together 3 consecutive quarters of earnings beats and the Estimize community is looking for a fourth one midweek.

Although Ciena has beaten the Estimize community’s 3 times in a row, the stock has still fallen since the start of the year. Year to date shares of Ciena are down 28%. In early September Ciena beat earnings expectations for its summer quarter but cut its outlook for the current period. In its revised forecast Ciena warned that Wednesday’s report will contain sales between $570 million and $610 million, significantly behind expectations which were in the $630 million range.

Estimize contributors are projecting that Ciena will beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations by 2 cents per share and report sales of $594 million, slightly north of management's guidance midpoint.