Earnings Preview: Walgreen Company (WAG), Accenture Plc (ACN), GameStop Corp (GME)

Worse-than-expected winter weather continues to have an eroding effect on earnings per share (ESP) growth projections, according to S&P Capital IQ.

Despite a stronger-than-expected increase in fourth-quarter 2013 S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) operating EPS of 8.0 percent from the initial estimate of 5.7 percent on Jan. 2, Wall Street EPS forecasts for the first three months of this year, as well as full-year estimates, continue to slide, Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ, said in a note.

The year-over-year increase in first-quarter EPS growth is now pegged by S&P Capital IQ consensus at 0.9 percent, down from a near-5 percent forecast at the beginning of the year and 7 percent estimate fewer than six months ago. In addition, second-quarter and third-quarter projections have come down to 8.9 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively, from 10.3 percent and 10.7 percent, as of the start of the year, Stovall added.

The full-year estimate for S&P 500 operating EPS growth has declined to 7.7 percent from 10 percent on Jan. 2, and more than 11 percent as of Oct. 1. “Should the EPS growth estimate continue to erode, we think investor’s confidence should decline as well,” Stovall said.

We ran a screen and produced a list of seven notable companies set to report their earnings March 24–28. We have highlighted their expected reporting dates and times, along with analysts’ earnings-per-share (fully reported) and revenue estimates from Reuters, as well as the stocks' trailing 12-month performances.

Tuesday Before Markets Open, or BMO:

Walgreen Co. (NYSE:WAG) together with its subsidiaries, operates the drugstore chain in the U.S. The company has a market capitalization of $63.21 billion. It is expected to report FY 2014 second-quarter EPS of 83 cents on revenue of $19.62 billion, compared with a profit of 79 cents a share on revenue of $18.65 billion in the year-ago period. Walgreen Co. is trading at around $66.60 a share. In the past 12 months, the stock has gained 44.6 percent.

Tuesday After Markets Close, or AMC:

PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) manufactures and sells dress shirts, sportswear and footwear for men, women and children. The company has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion. It is expected to report FY 2013 fourth-quarter EPS of $1.27 on revenue of $2.07 billion, compared with a profit of $1.09 a share on revenue of $1.64 billion in the year-ago period. PVH Corp. is trading at around $118.97 a share. In the past 12 months, the stock has gained 5.5 percent.

Wednesday AMC:

Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) is a provider of payroll, human resource, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small to medium-sized businesses. The company has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion. It is expected to report FY 2014 third-quarter EPS of 42 cents on revenue of $628.85 million, compared with a profit of 40 cents a share on revenue of $593.30 million in the year-ago period. Paychex Inc. is trading at around $42.99 a share. In the past 12 months, the stock has gained 25.0 percent.

Thursday BMO:

Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) is engaged in providing management consulting, technology and outsourcing services. The company has a market capitalization of $66.64 billion. It is expected to report FY2014 second-quarter EPS of $1.02 on revenue of $7.21 billion, compared with a profit of $1.65 a share on revenue of $7.06 billion in the year-ago period. Accenture Plc is trading at around $82.52 a share. In the past 12 months, the stock has gained 7.9 percent.

CONN'S Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) is a specialty retailer of durable consumer products, and it also provides consumer credit to support its customers’ purchases of the products that it offer. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion. It is expected to report FY 2014 fourth-quarter EPS of 78 cents on revenue of $362.63 million, compared with a profit of 50 cents a share on revenue of $250.34 million a year-ago. CONN'S Inc. is trading at around $32.48 a share. In the past 12 months, the stock has lost 12.0 percent.

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) is a multichannel video game retailer. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion. It is expected to report FY 2013 fourth-quarter EPS of $1.96 on revenue of $3.79 billion, compared with a profit of $2.15 a share on revenue of $3.56 billion in the year-ago period. GameStop Corp. is trading at around $38.34 a share. In the past 12 months, the stock has gained 50.5 percent.

Thursday AMC:

Red Hat Inc. (NYSE:RHT) is a global provider of open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to develop and offer operating system, middleware, virtualization, storage and cloud technologies. The company has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion. It is expected to report FY 2014 fourth-quarter EPS of 23 cents on revenue of $398.84 million, compared with a profit of 22 cents a share on revenue of $347.88 million in the year-ago period. Red Hat Inc. is trading at around $58.20 a share. In the past 12 months, the stock has gained 13.6 percent.