Earnings Expectations for the Week of September 24

As the month and the calendar quarter winds down this week, highlights on the earnings front include reports from Nike (NYSE: NKE), Walgreen (NYSE: WAG), Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Carnival (NYSE: CCL). Analysts by and large anticipate per-share earnings from each of them to be lower than a year ago. Here is a quick look at what analysts are looking for from these reports.

Nike

First-quarter fiscal 2013 earnings from world's leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel are forecast to come to $1.12 per share, while revenues totaled $6.41 billion. In the same quarter of last year, the company beat EPS estimates when it posted $1.36 per share and $6.08 billion in sales. Note that Nike fell short of EPS estimates by 14.6 percent in the fourth quarter, and the first-quarter consensus estimate has slipped from $1.13 per share 60 days ago. Nike, which announced a substantial buyback program last week, steps into the earnings spotlight Thursday after the markets close.

See also: Nike Announces $8B Share Buyback

Walgreen

Analysts predict that the largest American drug retailing chain will say Friday that it saw a profit of $0.56 per share in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. That would be down from $0.57 per share in the same period a year ago, but unchanged from the consensus EPS estimate of 60 days ago. The company has only fallen short of EPS expectations once in the past six quarters. Revenues for the quarter are expected to have slipped year-over-year as well -- 2.5 percent to $17.90 billion. The full-year forecast has EPS down almost two percent to $2.59 and revenue less than one percent lower to $71.69 billion.

See also: Walgreen Establishes Deal with Alliance

Discover Financial Services

This provider of banking and payment services in the United States is expected to report Thursday that for its third quarter it had earnings of $1.03 per share. That would be down more than 12 percent from the same period in the previous year. EPS were in line with consensus estimates in the second quarter, ending an eight-quarter streak of positive surprises. And analysts on average expect revenues to total $1.03 billion, or more than six percent higher than in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose six percent in the second quarter, but fell short of analysts' estimates.

See also: Discover Reaches an Agreement with the FDIC and CFPB

Research In Motion

This Ontario-based purveyor of the BlackBerry smartphone suffered a service outage this week, on the same day the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5 was released. RIM is expected to report Thursday that it swung to a second-quarter net loss of $0.47 per share from a profit of $0.80 per share in the year-ago period. That would be the second quarter in a row that RIM posted a net loss. Ninety days ago, the consensus estimate was for a loss of just $0.02 per share. Revenue for the quarter is forecast to have tumbled more than 40 percent to $2.49 billion. So far, analysts expect revenue to fall even further in the current quarter.

See also: Microsoft Signs Licensing Agreement with Research In Motion

Carnival

In its Tuesday morning report, this Miami-based cruise and vacation company is expected report a 14.7 percent EPS slump to $1.44 for its third quarter. That consensus estimate was $1.45 some 60 days ago. But Carnival has not fallen short of consensus EPS estimates in the past four quarters. Revenues are expected to total $4.68 billion, which would be more than seven percent lower than a year ago. In the previous quarter, revenue was in line with analysts' expectations. Still, shares are trading near a recent 52-week high.

And Others

Dublin-based Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and tech company Jabil Circuit (NASDAQ: JBL) are expected to post lower earnings this week as well, but analysts expect homebuilder Lennar (NYSE: LEN) and spice and condiment maker McCormick & Co. (NYSE: MKC) to buck the trend and post earnings growth.

Semiconductor producer Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) and Colorado-based Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN) are expected to report net losses for their most recent quarter.

Quarterly reports from Family Dollar Stores (NYSE: FDO), Marriot International (NYSE: MAR), Monsanto (NYSE: MON) and Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) are scheduled for the following week.