Zacks Earnings Preview: Kroger, LDK Solar, FactSet Research, Korn/Ferry International and Smithfield Foods

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Jun 11, 2012, 09:30 ET

CHICAGO, June 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com releases the list of companies likely to issue earnings surprises. This week's list includes Kroger (NYSE:KR), LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK), FactSet Research (NYSE:FDS), Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY) and Smithfield Foods (NYSE:SFD).

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Slow Times for Earnings

There is not much on the docket with respect to earnings and economic reports this week. The next earnings season will not get fully underway till the second half of July, though we still have a few companies reporting their first quarter results. But for all practical purposes, keeping track of first quarter earnings results is mostly for record-keeping purposes at this stage.

The economic calendar has a few important reports on deck that will give us a feel for inflation, consumer spending and the factory sector. But as we all know, the market-moving headlines will be coming from across the pond. The crucial Greek election is getting closer and Euro-zone leaders appear to be trying to ring-fence the Spanish banking system before that.

There is some chance that we may get some headway on the Spanish banking issue this weekend (we are writing this on Friday, June 8^th), but given the slow torture of the European saga thus far, that may be way too an optimistic view. In any case, the plan seems to be to give Spain some sort of a 'bailout-lite' where the country's banks will directly get capital injections from the Euro-zone bailout fund without subjecting the country to onerous stipulations that accompanied the earlier bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal. If accomplished, this could be a potentially major positive for the market.

A lot of details apparently still need to be worked out, as the IMF and an outside consulting firm are evaluating the full extent of Spanish banking sector's loan-loss provisioning needs. But of all the ideas floating around, this seems the most promising to tackle the issue.

We haven't closed the books on the first quarter 2012 reporting season, as we still have a few companies (with fiscal quarters ending in April) to report results. As of Friday (06/8), a total of 495 companies in the S&P 500 have already reported first quarter results. We will get results from 28 companies this week, including one from the S&P 500. Kroger (NYSE:KR) is the sole S&P 500 company reporting results this week.

Monday - 6/11

No major economic or earnings reports coming out today.

Tuesday - 6/12

Nothing major on the economic calendar.
We will get quarterly results from LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK) and FactSet Research (NYSE:FDS) in the morning.

Wednesday - 6/13

We will get the May Retail Sales and Producer Price Index (PPI) numbers before the market opens.
Retail Sales are expected to be down 0.1% on a 'headline' basis and 'unchanged' on an ex-autos basis, after rising by 0.1% on both those counts in April.
Headline PPI is expected to show a 0.8% drop after April's 0.2% drop. The 'core' reading is expected to be up 0.2% after rising by the same amount the month before.
We will get results from Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY) after the market closes.

Thursday - 6/14

We will get weekly Jobless Claims and the May Consumer Price Index (CPI) before the market opens.
Weekly Jobless Claims have been in the high 370K's range for awhile and not coming down to the more desirable 350K level, as was the case earlier this year. The labor market weakness of the last three months has raised market expectations that the Fed will come out with another round of QE.
The recent downtrend in gasoline prices is expected to show up as 0.2% decline in 'headline' May CPI, compared to the 'unchanged' reading in April. The 'core' reading is expected to show a 0.2% gain, after an equivalent gain the month before.
We will get results from Kroger and Smithfield Foods (NYSE:SFD), both before the market opens.

Friday - 6/15

We will get the June Empire State reading before the market opens, while the May Industrial production and the June University of Michigan Sentiment survey will come out a little after the market opens.
Industrial Production is expected to show an 'unchanged' reading after the preceding month's strong 1.1% gain.
The Empire State survey is expected to show a modest decline from May's level of 17.1.
The University of Michigan survey is expected to show a modest decline from May's level of 79.3.

Sheraz Mian is the Director of Research for Zacks.com.

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