L Brands -- Loser or Retail's Confidence Booster?
Earnings season is winding down but the retail sector dominates the scene Wednesday.
Before the bell comes earnings from Lowe's (LOW) - Get Report , Target (TGT) - Get Report and Staples (SPLS) while after the close are Salesforce.com (CRM) - Get Report , L Brands (LB) - Get Report and Ctrip.com (CTRP) - Get Report .
Given the gloomy retail landscape, many investors will be watching L Brands' third-quarter earnings. Analysts are calling for 52 cents a share on revenue of about $2.5 billion. Last year the specialty retailer reported 44 cents a share on net sales of $2.31 billion for the period.
L Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works stores, is projected to post a year-over-year growth in both profit and sales. Analysts applaud the company for its innovative merchandise, which is widely popular among consumers.
Benjamin Stoto, research director for Jim Cramer's CNBC program "Mad Money," said, "So there shouldn't be too many surprises because the company did report comparable-store sales and revised its earnings guidance a couple weeks ago, ahead of analyst day. But the stock has actually sold off about 10% since then, mostly on fears after weak earnings reports from Macy's (M) - Get Report and Nordstrom (JWN) - Get Report last week. We'll want to see L Brands really just affirm that the quarter was as good as they guided for and shares could see balance after that."
On the economic calendar are MBA mortgage applications at 7 a.m. ET and several regional Federal Reserve officials, including William Dudley of New York, Dennis Lockhart of Atlanta and Loretta Mester of Cleveland, speaking in New York. Also expected are housing starts at 8:30 a.m. ET, the weekly oil data at 10:30 a.m. and the Federal Open Market Committee minutes of its October meeting in the afternoon.