The coming week will bring late-season earnings reports from Best Buy Inc. (BBY), ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Walgreen Co. (WAG), all of which are expected to post earnings and revenue growth, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Below is a closer look at a few other companies reporting this week for which expectations are high.

In the three months that ended in January, Williams-Sonoma (WSM) saw strong holiday sales, declared a quarterly dividend, and announced the retirement of its CEO. Analysts expect the San Francisco-based home products retailer to report that fiscal fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled from the same period of last year to $0.74 per share. Revenue for the period is expected to be 6.2% higher to $1.1 billion. For the full year, the forecast calls for earnings of $0.81 per share (+56.8%) on $3.1 billion in revenue (-8.3%). Williams-Sonoma earnings results have been better than expected in recent quarters -- beating consensus estimates by more than 200% in the third quarter.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) received an analyst's downgrade following its disappointing earnings report and guidance.
• Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (CBI) improved earnings prospects prompted one analyst to upgrade the stock.
• Cintas Corp. (CTAS) lower Q3 earnings topped analysts' expectations, and it reiterated its Q4 earnings guidance.
• CRA International Inc. (CRAI) received an analyst's downgrade following its earnings results for Q1.
• Discover Financial Services (DFS) reported a net loss for Q1 due to a needed boost to its loan loss reserves.

If you are a shareholder of apparel entity Perry Ellis (PERY), you probably aren't so happy about the price action seen on Friday. The stock was off by 9%, on strong volume. The market just wasn't buying the earnings news.

What happened? According to Reuters, the situation didn't seem so bad. The company made 64 cents per share in the fourth quarter. That was a lot better than the $1.58 per-share loss observed in the comparable period twelve months ago. Furthermore, estimates were set at 59 cents per share. Come on, what gives? Plus, if you look at the actual press release, you'll find some encouraging commentary from management. The worst of the economic problems is hopefully behind the business; in addition, cash flow appears to be decent.

Luxury jewelry store chain Tiffany & Co. (TIF) is trading lower today as Wall Street awaits its fourth quarter earnings report on Monday, but by most accounts analysts are expecting to see strong earnings from the company.

Going into Monday's earnings report, analysts are forecasting the company to report $1.13 a share. For the same period last year Tiffany had earnings of $0.85 per share, so if it is able to match analyst estimates it would mark a very respectable 32% jump year over year.

After the closing bell Thursday, Cincinnati-based Cintas (CTAS) announced that its third-quarter net income dropped to 32 cents per share from 47 cents per share a year ago.

The firm blamed the drop on weak demand for work uniforms, which Cintas produces. Quarterly revenue totaled $861.8 million, down 5.2% from the prior year. Expectations called for Cintas to earn 30 cents per share. Looking ahead, the company reiterated its fourth-quarter earnings outlook of 30 to 34 cents per share.

Palm (PALM) got hit in yesterday's after-hours session after announcing its third-quarter earnings report to Wall Street. According to BusinessWeek, an adjusted loss of 61 cents per diluted share was recorded on the bottom line. Analysts thought the loss wouldn't be so severe; they projected red ink of 42 cents per share.

Shares of Palm were down over 15% in extended trading. That's enough to scare any shareholder into rethinking the investment thesis with this business.

This is a tough one. I lost money on GameStop (GME) recently. I'm therefore hesitant to say the stock is a buy. Yet, today's price action might indicate that good things are ahead for the both the company and its equity.

The video-game retailer rallied on the Q4 report (at the time of this writing, shares were 7% higher). Earnings were down: they came in at $1.29 per diluted share, a dime less than what was made in the previous year's similar quarter (this latter period included 5 cents of merger-related income, so take that into account). But expectations were slightly beaten: according to our earnings preview, the call was for $1.28 per share.

FedEx (FDX - option chain) shares are rising slightly today after the company reported Q3 2010 earnings this morning before the market open. EPS of 0.76 beat analyst estimates of 0.72, plus the company provided an improved outlook, lifting its full-year earnings forecast. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on FDX.

FDX opened this morning at $87.85. So far today the stock has hit a low of $87.00 and a high of $90.39. As of 11:55, FDX is trading at $90.36 up 0.49 (0.6%). The chart for FDX looks bullish and S&P gives AGN its highest 5 STARS (out of 5) strong buy ranking.

After the closing bell, SunPower Corporation (SPWRA) will take the spotlight to reveal its fourth-quarter earnings. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting the solar concern to report net income of 49 cents per share, down from its year-ago profit of 70 cents per share. Sales for the period are expected to arrive at $491 million.

SunPower has a solid history in the earnings spotlight, having exceeded Wall Street's consensus expectations in three of the past four reporting periods. Judging by a recent uptick in call buying, some traders appear to be anticipating another upside surprise.

Guess (GES), a fashion concept whose related companies include Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Gap (GPS), and Polo Ralph Lauren (RL), posted fourth-quarter results Wednesday after the bell. Adjusted income went up well over 40% to 96 cents per diluted share. According to Earnings.com, Wall Street believed 81 cents per share would be the bottom-line number.

Total net sales increased 14%. Same-store sales were up 5.3% (they were better by 2% if you look at the metric in constant dollars). Net cash from operating activities over the last twelve months experienced significant expansion.

Shares of athletic giant Nike, Inc. (NKE) are up over 3% in after hours trading after the company posted better than expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter this afternoon.

As we noted in our earnings preview last night, analysts had forecast earnings of $0.89 per share for the quarter. Fueled by a 7% increase in sales during the quarter, Nike was able to outpace estimates and earn $1.01 per share. This marks the 11th straight quarter that Nike has been able to post better than expected quarterly earnings.

Discover Financial Services (DFS) issued its fiscal first quarter report Tuesday after the bell. According to an article at BusinessWeek.com, a net loss of 22 cents per share was recorded. Last year at this time, the card entity, which counts American Express (AXP) as a colleague, brought in 25 cents per share of positive income.

The quarter's red ink was driven by an addition to loan loss reserves. Without that aspect, Reuters says that Discover brought in a profit of 11 cents per share. Unfortunately, that won't help the company win the expectations game. The estimate at Earnings.com indicates a desired figure of 12 cents for the bottom line.

Athletic foot ware and accessories giant Nike Inc. (NKE) will be reporting its fiscal third quarter results tomorrow after the market closes.

Going into tomorrow's earnings report, analysts are expecting the company to report $0.88 per share, down 11.1% from the same period last year.

The economic downturn hit the company's sales, but last quarter it stated that it was starting to see a turnaround in sales and consumer sentiment. Wall Street will be looking for further signs that sales are starting to improve for company.

The Walt Disney Company's (DIS) Alice in Wonderland was number one at the domestic box office for the second weekend in a row. Excellent, especially for shareholders. Disney needs Alice to do some massive numbers to prove to Hollywood, as well as Wall Street, that changes in its film division are here: changes for the better, ones that will increase economic value.

According to Box Office Mojo, Alice grossed over $60 million. Coming in second was Green Zone, from General Electric Corporation's (GE) Universal. Make that a distant second. Zone pulled in approximately $14 million. As some have said, this was a very weak opening for a Matt Damon project.

If FedEx can still be considered a bellwether for the U.S. economy, then judging by the expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, things must be looking pretty bright. But then again, the expectations for this week's quarterly reports from Nike, GameStop, and Discover tell a different story.

Memphis-based FedEx Corp. (FDX), announced an increase in ground rates and also delivered two pandas from the U.S. to China with its new Boeing 777F during its fiscal third quarter. Earnings for that period are expected to have more than doubled from a year ago to $0.72 per share. And revenue for the three months that ended in February is expected to have risen 2.4% to $8.3 billion. Analysts so far expect sequential and year-over-year growth of EPS and revenue in the fourth quarter. FedEx only fell short of earnings estimates in one of the past five quarters.