Monday
The corner drugstore is holding up better than you may think. Despite markdowns on generic prescriptions at discount retailers, and the popularity of grocery superstores with expanding selections of pharmacy staples, Walgreen (NYSE:WAG) is still healthy. Analysts expect the drugstore chain to announce on Monday that it grew its fiscal third-quarter profits by 15%, to $0.53 a share.
Tuesday
A few big names, including Nike (NYSE:NKE) and Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), follow on Tuesday with their latest quarterly reports. Is it just me, or has Oracle gone a few days without buying a smaller rival? The enterprise-software giant with the colorful CEO and insatiable acquisitive appetite is always an interesting company to check in on every three months. The pros expect earnings to climb 21% to $0.35 per share in its final quarter of fiscal 2007. Oracle has beaten Wall Street estimates in six of the past seven quarters.
Wednesday
The dress code for Wednesday will be red hats. No, I don't have one, either. So Red Hat's (NYSE:RHT) quarterly report will have to do. The company has been successfully commercializing the open-source Linux platform, but now it's got some heavy-hitting software giants looking to crash the party.
Thursday
You may not be much of a palm reader, but you can be a Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) reader on Thursday. The smartphone maker is facing a lot of fruity competition -- you know, Apples and BlackBerries -- these days. Earnings are projected to dip in its latest quarter, but the company's outlook will be key here. Ironically enough, the company reports on the eve of Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone debut.
Friday
If you want to kick off the weekend on a thrifty note, 99 Cents Only (NYSE:NDN) is set to report. There won't be a lot of suspense here. The company already preannounced that it will post a loss of $0.01 per share for the period. However, there will still be plenty to chew on with the actual report. Can dollar stores buck the trend of sluggish retail? We'll find out soon.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
Palm is a Stock Advisor recommendation. If you want to be prepared for the future, dig into the newsletter's past with a free 30-day trial subscription offer.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz recommends windshield wiper fluid when trying to look forward. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. He does own not own shares in any of the companies in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
