What to Watch Thursday: Investors Will Be Monitoring Gap's Earnings

Best Buy and J.M. Smucker are also expected to release quarterly results.
By U-Jin Lee ,

For Thursday we're expecting more quarterly results from several large retailers along with a food products company.

Before the market opens, we'll get the latest financial results from J.M. Smucker (SJM) - Get Report and Best Buy (BBY) - Get Report . After the markets close, we'll hear from Gap (GPS) - Get Report .

Analysts are expecting the company to earn $0.63 a share on nearly $4 billion in revenue. Both its profits and sales are expected to fall year-over-year.

The company, which operates the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta stores, recently announced its October sales figures. It posted $1.2 billion in sales during that month, below $1.26 billion for the same period a year ago. Same-store sales slumped by 3% mainly due to weakness in Banana Republic, but the company saw positive growth at Old Navy.

Molly Henningsen, research analyst for CNBC's "Mad Money" said, "Investors are going to want an update on the strategic initiative that Gap announced in June, which involved closing 175 stores in North America. The market viewed that as a positive development, but the company continues to hit roadblocks.

"They lost the head of their Old Navy division to Ralph Lauren (RL) - Get Report , they saw a decline in comparable store sales during each month last quarter, and the guidance numbers that they gave at the beginning of this month were well below expectations. So it seem that this is not going to be the source of momentum that Gap has been looking for."

There are also several reports on the economic calendar Thursday. Jobless claims come out at 8:30 a.m. ET, along with a business outlook survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Federal Reserve board members Dennis Lockhart and Stanley Fischer will deliver speeches in the afternoon.

TheStreet's U-Jin Lee reports from Wall Street.

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