This Wednesday (4/2) Earnings Calls: RIMM, BBY, MU, MON, KMX

Fellow Masters, some big names we care about reporting earnings on Wednesday include Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Micron Technology (NYSE: MU), Monsanto (NYSE: MON), and CarMax (NYSE: KMX).  Gentlemen, place your bets.

Tickers listed alone: RIMM, BBY, MU, MON, KMX

Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) is set to report fourth quarter results after the close on Wednesday, April 2 and UBS expects the BlackBerry-maker to report revenues of $1.85-billion. This is slightly below the consensus of $1.86-billion, but within company guidance of $1.80 to $1.87-billion.

Analyst Jeffrey Fan expects net subscriber additions of 1.82 million, while guidance calls for 15% to 20% higher than that figure.

“We continue to believe RIM will benefit from its recent and upcoming new product launches, and that potential churn from layoffs at financial firms should be offset by higher consumer growth,” he told clients in a note. Growth should supported by RIM’s expansion of its distribution channel in Europe and emerging markets, entry-level pricing packages offered by carriers and new products like the CDMA Curve, Mr. Fan added.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2009, he estimates revenues of $1.95-billion and net subscriber additions of 1.93 million.

Micron is the big wildcard, already up 8% today, a huge move for a stock that hasn't moved in months. After hitting a one-year high of $14.20 in July, the stock hit a one-year low of $5.42 on Friday. MU shares are trading higher this morning after the Semiconductor Industry Association reported that global semiconductor sales rose 1.5 percent year-over-year in February, helped by growing international demand.

Make room for Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY). The estimates from First Call are $1.65 EPS on $13.18 billion in revenues.  Next quarter estimates are $0.39 EPS on $8.58 billion in revenues. Estimates for fiscal Feb-2009 are $3.35 EPS on $43.08 billion in revenues.  These numbers may change by Wednesday morning.

Best Buy Co.’s 52-week trading range is $38.75 to $53.90. Analysts have an average price target north of $52.00 and shares closed at $40.56 on Friday.  Year-to-date, its shares are down close to 25%.

BBY said Q4 estimates could prove conservative due to the strength in video game software, but they said investors will likely be focused on FY09 guidance. They said a 10% growth forecast will likely be necessary for shares to react favorably. The firm said longer-term the company remains well-positioned to capture the ongoing interest in consumer electronics.  The firm has a Buy rating and $65 price on Best Buy, which is currently trading around $40.90 per share.

Then there's Monsanto, Citi maintains their 'Buy' rating on Monsanto (NYSE: MON), and raised earnings estimates from 2008-2010 and increases price target from $140 to $145 on March 28th.

Citi analyst says, "The company's earnings growth rate is likely to sustain in '08 after rapid growth in the last four years. Longer term, we remain positive on the company's growth prospects out till 2010, and forecast a CAGR of 11% from '08 to 2010. We believe the company's pipeline of agricultural biotech products is unrivaled by competitors but with new competition expected towards the end of the decade, Monsanto's earnings growth rate could get adversely affected. Given growing acceptance of biotech food, we believe Monsanto will be at the forefront of this burgeoning global business."

Last week, CarMax Inc. (KMX) fell on worries that Wall Street's 2009 earnings expectations for the used vehicle retailer may be too high. 

Here's more from Forbes.com on CarMax:
Wachovia (nyse:WB)'s Richard M. Kwas backed his "Underperform" or "Sell" rating and cut his earnings estimates for CarMax ahead of the company's April 2 fourth-quarter earnings announcement.

"Despite easing comparisons, we expect the freeze in the securitization markets to impact same-store sales growth in fiscal 2009," Kwas wrote in a note to investors.

"Delinquency trends for recent securitizations showed stabilization in February, but remain well above the 2000-2002 period on a seasonal basis. Deterioration on the jobs front could stymie recent improvement."

In addition, Kwas said he expects wholesale valuations to keep falling, which could lower recovery rates for CarMax's financing arm.

Kwas said he expects the company's 2009 guidance to come in below the average analyst estimate for profit of 96 cents per share, and cut his forecast for the year by 10 cents to 87 cents per share.

Best of luck on the calls this week Masters.

Disclaimer: The author holds no positions in the securities mentioned in this publication.