In order to keep you ahead of the curve during earnings season, The Motley Fool's Retail Sector will give you a preview of which companies are reporting in the upcoming week (Dec. 4, 2006, to Dec. 8, 2006). In the process, we'll let you know what happened last quarter so that you'll have an idea of what to expect from this quarter.
The quarterly barrage of earnings reports is pretty much behind us. And what a last few weeks they were. We saw lots of good and bad from retail companies. But it's not completely over, as some earnings stragglers are still waiting to strut their stuff.
Last quarter, Ryan Fuhrmann took a look at Kroger's (NYSE:KR) results and didn't come away enthused. Ryan realized that a good operator in a tough business is not always the best type of investment, especially if the price is not a very nice bargain. We'll see if much has changed at Kroger this quarter.
Inside Value recommendation AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) reports its earnings next week. The company is known for generating impressive amounts of cash flow and using that cash flow to repurchase shares. That's because it generates excellent returns on invested capital. Unfortunately, the company is not a fast grower. We'll see whether the pattern continues.
Home electronics retailer Tweeter (NASDAQ:TWTR) has been struggling at a time when new home electronics products are driving sales growth at its competitors. That's never a good sign. Hopefully, we'll see some signs of a turnaround this quarter.
Delia's (NASDAQ:DLIA) is a small-cap teen retailer that has slipped under the radar screen a bit as it continues to get itself back on track and to kick-start its growth in new stores. The stock has been up and down this year, and we'll be there to report how things are progressing.
Men's clothing retailer Jos. A Bank (NASDAQ:JOSB) rounds out the week of earnings reports. Different Fools have different opinions about this business and have expressed them here and here. That's what makes The Motley Fool great: There's no party line to follow. With an impressive jump in November sales and same-store sales recently, we'll find out if that performance will translate into cash flow.
In case you were still recovering from the Thanksgiving festivities and weren't able to keep up with our retail news from this week, we've summarized the best for you here. And that's just a small thanks from us to say thanks for being a devoted reader.
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Retail editor and Inside Value team member David Meier is ranked 184 out of 14,555 in CAPS and does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned. You can view his TMF profile here. The Fool takes its disclosure policy very seriously.
