Preview Of Top 5 Retail Earnings To Watch: Walmart, Macy's, JCPenney, Kohl's, Nordstrom

Wal-Mart, Macy’s, J.C. Penney and more are gearing up to report earnings this week. Macy's, Inc. (NYSE: M) will report first-quarter earnings before the bell on Wednesday, and analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research are expecting the company to book a profit of 53 cents a share, up from 43 cents a year ago. Revenue is expected to be $6.39 billion for the quarter, 4 percent higher than the year-earlier total of $6.14 billion. Macy’s has beat revenue and EPS expectations in the past four quarters, and investors will be watching to see if that streak can continue. Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) will release first-quarter results before the bell on Thursday amid concern that the retailer will report slower growth after tax hikes may have hurt consumer’s pocketbooks.During its fourth-quarter earnings announcement, Wal-Mart blamed tax hikes for its sluggish February sales which hurt lower and middle income shoppers. The Wall Street consensus is $1.15 per share, up 5.5 percent from a year ago when Wal-Mart reported earnings of $1.09 per share. Revenue is projected to be $116.42 billion for the quarter. Also before the market opens Thursday, Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS) is expected to see a 10 percent decline in earnings to 57 cents a share as analysts estimate that the company will post lower sales. Revenue is projected to be 1.1 percent above the year-earlier total of $4.24 billion at $4.29 billion for the quarter. Struggling retailer J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) reports first-quarter earnings after the bell Thursday, and analysts forecast that the company will likely miss estimates after it posted a disappointing performance in the last quarter.  The company’s poor sales results revealed that customers were unhappy with its new pricing mechanism. The Zacks consensus analyst estimate is currently at a loss of $1.17 a share with revenue likely to decrease 13.7 percent year-over-year to $2.72 billion for the quarter.  For the year, revenue is projected to come in at $12.3 billion.  Finally, high-end department store Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) is expected to record single-digit profit and revenue growth on a percentage basis after the retailer has benefited from revived demand for its designer merchandise. Analysts are expecting Nordstrom to report earnings of 76 cents per share, up 8.6 percent from a year ago when it reported earnings of 70 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter is projected to finishing at $2.8 billion.