Salad dressing and workplace dresses will play bit parts in the week of news ahead.
Monday
Care to grab some SYSCO (NYSE:SYY) for lunch? Stop looking funny at your monitor. You've been fed by SYSCO before. You just may not know it. As the country's largest food-service distributor, SYSCO delivers its comestibles to many popular restaurants and fast food chains early in the day, and then the trucks move on before the hungry patrons charge in. So it's only fitting that a company that provides sustenance should kick off the new trading week with its quarterly earnings report. It will be the final quarter in the foodstuffs giant's fiscal year.
The company has been a consistent producer. However, with an enterprise value 30 times greater than the company's generation of annual free cash flow, the company's valuation -- like some of its desserts -- may be a bit rich for some.
Tuesday
Is it too early to expect a turnaround at Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ)? Probably. But new CEO Mark Hurd hasn't wasted any time since taking over from Carly Fiorina back in April. He's made his assessments. He has made some difficult cuts. Getting the company focused on growing business while cutting costs is the plan. On Tuesday, we'll get to hear Hurd discuss the printing juggernaut's prospects and what he has seen during his first quarter at the company.
Wednesday
What's been the best-performing stock over the past 25 years? Few would have guessed Eaton Vance (NYSE:EV), which has produced a stunning 32% annualized return. Then again, money management has been a booming business. You can see that in the stellar performance this year in shares of mutual fund master Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN), whose shares have risen by about 80% since going public. You also see it in the popularity of our Motley Fool Champion Funds newsletter service.
Eaton Vance is coming off a decent quarter during which its assets under management grow by 16%. As the folks in the mainstream continue to take charge of their financial futures and find a cozy friend in Mr. Market, Eaton Vance is poised to keep producing for its shareholders.
Thursday
Is it time for JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ:JDSU) to shine again? The company hasn't produced a quarter better than breakeven since 2001, and it's easy to see why investors are losing their patience. The popularly traded stock can be had for a little more than a buck these days, where five years ago it was fetching triple-digit ransoms. Yes, the telecommunications sector has been cruel, but JDS has put its war chest to work by acquiring smaller companies in an effort to win its way back into the market's heart. Come Thursday, we'll know whether the company has moved any closer to breaking consistently into the black.
Friday
For most specialty retailers, the July quarter tends to be forgettable. It's the back-to-school and holiday shopping season quarters that follow that truly matter. That's typically not the case for Ann Taylor (NYSE:ANN), though. The mall staple has produced relatively stable year-round results, in part because it specializes in classy work duds that are always in demand. The company is coming off a rather plain-dressed April quarter, though. Same-store sales dipped and margins slid as the company had to clear out more stagnant merchandise than usual at clearance prices. That's why Friday's second-quarter report will be important. Earnings will be respectable, but investors will be checking out the quality of those earnings as well.
Want to learn more about the companies waiting to report earnings this week? Check out:
- Feast or Famine at SYSCO
- The HP Way? Cutting Staff by 10%
- Eaton Vance Still Advancing
- JDS Uniphase Buys Something
- Ann Taylor's Raggedy First Quarter
Until next week, I remain,
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz can spot a SYSCO truck a mile away. But then, he grew up in his family's food-service distributorship business. Rick does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. T he Fool has a disclosure policy. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.
