Staples, Medtronic: Tomorrow's Headliners

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Staples (SPLS Quote) and Medtronic (MDT Quote) will be in focus Tuesday as both companies will post quarterly results before the opening bell.

Traders will also be digesting the first economic data of the week in the form of the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index and consumer confidence report.

Staples should post earnings of 16 cents a share on sales of $5.53 billion, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates. Last quarter, the office-supplies retailer beat earnings-per-share estimates by a penny, while revenue jumped 19%. This time around, analysts expect a 9% rise based on the $5.53 billion estimate, although that would be down sequentially.

Meanwhile, analysts expect Medtronic to post a profit of 78 cents a share on revenue of $3.81 billion. That would represent a 2.7% climb in top-line growth from a year ago.

Burger King (BKC Quote), Chico's FAS (CHS Quote) and Big Lots (BIG Quote) will also report earnings before the start of trading. International Rectifier (IRF Quote) and Blue Coat Systems (BCSI Quote) are among the handful of companies reporting late Tuesday.

Turning to the day's economic data, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for June will be released at 9 a.m. EDT. Economists expect the index to improve to a reading of -16.4 from May's reading of -17.06%.

An hour later, the Federal Housing Finance Agency will release the June read of its own home price index. At the same time, the Conference Board will release the August read on consumer confidence. Economists polled by Reuters expect the index to rise to a reading of 47.9 from 46.6 in July.