Monday
The new trading week begins with online jewelry retailer Blue Nile (NASDAQ:NILE) posting its third-quarter results. The Rule Breakers recommendation is in the seasonally sleepy part of its operating season. Analysts expect the company to earn all of $0.10 a share as it prepares for the more significant holiday quarter, when high-end jewelry is always in demand.
A dime may not seem like much, but Blue Nile also completely obliterated its targets for the previous quarter, so this is an early report worth watching.
Tuesday
If it's Tuesday, it must be Baidu.com (NASDAQ:BIDU). China's leading search engine is hoping to provide more treats than tricks on Halloween with its third-quarter financials. It's poised to be a good report, as all studies show the company pulling away from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the world's most populous region.
Analysts expect Baidu's earnings to leap to $0.26 a share after a $0.07-per-share showing a year ago. That's a pretty big jump, so it's a safe bet that there may be a little volatility in the stock if it lands above or below the market's mark.
Wednesday
If you've found yourself snoozing through the past few Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) conference calls, maybe Wednesday will be the one to kick you out of your slumber. There's been a lot going on with Stock Advisor pick Time Warner, particularly at its struggling AOL unit. Its move to make America Online a free limited service for consumers who provide their own broadband access is intriguing. One would think it highly unlikely that AOL can make up in ad revenue what it is losing in subscription fees. But with users defecting over the past four years, it's a shot worth taking before the last paying AOL member hits the final "goodbye" screen.
Thursday
Get your game on come Thursday, when Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) reports. Like most video game publishers, EA has been struggling, and it's likely to show on Thursday. The pros expect earnings to dive to $0.02 a share after a $0.15-per-share showing last year. Gamers are saving up to buy the next-generation systems, and even though EA has some all-weather titles, like the Madden series, it hasn't been immune to the cyclical slowdown.
These lulls have proved to be temporary in the past. The Stock Advisor recommendation is expected to resume its growth next year, once all of the new consoles are firmly entrenched and available in the marketplace.
Friday
The week closes out with another video game software specialist, THQ (NASDAQ:THQI). Thanks to a catalog that's packed with kid-friendly titles, THQ hasn't been stung as hard as more teen- and adult-oriented publishers like EA and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO). This won't make the quarterly report any less interesting, especially since having EA and THQ report back-to-back should help flesh out expectations for the holiday shopping season.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
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.
