The Fool Looks Ahead

There's never a dull week on Wall Street. Let's go over some of the news that will shape the week to come.

Monday
The new trading week kicks off with Conn's (NASDAQ:CONN) hoping to electrify the market with its latest financial report. Consumer electronics has been a difficult retailing niche to navigate these days, but analysts see a sharp spike in profitability at Conn's.

Tuesday
The bell tolls for Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) on Tuesday.

The leading residential developer of moderately upscale homesteads should have a strong quarter. Reports out of the housing sector have been largely negative, particularly for the new construction market that's finally starting to overcome the glut of existing homes on the market.

Analysts see Toll's net income nearly tripling to $0.24 a share. Make sure you read beyond the top and bottom lines, though. Are contract cancellations on the decline? Is the backlog of undelivered homes growing? Toll is a bellwether here. Tune in to hear how it rings.

Wednesday
SAIC (UNKNOWN:SAI.DL) reports on Wednesday. Analysts are holding out for a profit of $0.34 a share out of the defense contractor. The problem is that SAIC has come up short in three of the past four quarters.

Thursday
Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW) has been one of the better-performing IPOs this year. The provider of next-generation firewalls for enterprise networks went public at $42 this summer, and it's been trading in the $50s or higher all this time. It reports on Thursday for what will be its second quarterly conference call as a public company.

Friday
The final trading day of the week will be quiet on the earnings front, but that won't stop KMG Chemicals (NYSE:KMG) from reporting. KMG is a producer of specialty chemicals for the electronic and industrial wood treatment markets.

Check that calendar
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