Top earnings to watch this week: WMT, HD, CSCO, LOW & DE

Highlights:

• Walmart Inc.'s (NYSE: WMT) revenue surged nearly three per cent YoY in Q1 FY22.
• Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) said it had experienced a cyberattack recently.
• Felecia Pryor was appointed as Senior Vice President at Deere & Company (NYSE: DE).

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT), Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW), and Deere & Company (NYSE: DE), are among the top companies to report their earnings this week.

People are cautious with their spending amid soaring prices. However, consumer demand remains higher, which seems to be helping the retail sector.

Several retail firms, some major names from their respective industries, are scheduled to report their quarterly financial results this week. Their quarterly earnings and guidance would provide cues on how they have tackled the market uncertainties like peaking inflation, interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, and the lingering fear of a possible recession.

Investors could keep a close watch on the earnings of the biggest retail US firms in the coming days.

Now, let's revise the previous quarter's earnings of the companies ahead of their latest quarterly release this week:

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT)

The leading retail firm, Walmart, holds a market cap of over US$ 357.03 billion and its dividend yield was 1.73 per cent at the time of writing. The dividend yield is the income or dividend generated from an investment divided by the asset's current price.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based firm is expected to post its fiscal 2022 second-quarter earnings results on August 16, before the market opens.

Meanwhile, according to the update about Q2 and the ongoing fiscal year given by Walmart on July 25, it lowered its guidance for both periods. The company said it had revised its Q2 FY22 and fiscal 2022 guidance, mainly due to pricing pressures of improving its inventory levels.

According to the update, it expected its net sales to grow by 7.5 per cent in the second quarter of fiscal 2022 and 4.5 per cent for the ongoing year.

In Q2 FY22, the company’s total revenue rose 2.7 per cent year-over-year (YoY) to US$ 138.3 billion. The hypermarkets and discount store chain operator posted a net income of US$ 2.73 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, comparatively less than US$ 3.99 billion in Q1 FY21.

Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD)

Another retail firm, Home Depot, is scheduled to post its earnings this week. The home improvement retail firm is to release its second quarter fiscal 2022 earnings results on August 16, before the opening bell.

During its first-quarter earnings release, it posted sales of US$ 38.9 billion, an increase of US$ 1.4 billion, or 3.8 per cent from the prior year's comparable quarter.

The Atlanta, Georgia-based firm posted net earnings of US$ 4.23 billion, or US$ 4.09 per diluted share, in Q1 FY22, against an income of US$ 4.14 billion, or US$ 3.86 per diluted share, in Q1 FY21.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO)

Among the major names from the retail sector, some important technology companies like Cisco Systems will also focus on next week's earnings schedule. Cisco Systems is expected report its earnings results on August 17, after the market close.

Cisco had a dividend yield of 3.3 per cent, and its annualized dividend is US$ 1.52. The US$ 191.35 billion market cap company had recently been in the news after it revealed about experiencing a cyberattack in which a hacker continuously attempted to gain access to its network.

According to Cisco, it had been aware of a potential attack in late May this year and revealed it on August 10, after the "bad actors" published a list of the stolen files from the security incident on the dark web.

In the third quarter of fiscal 2022, the San Jose, California-based technology company posted flat YoY growth in its quarterly revenue of US$ 12.8 billion. Cisco's net income rose six per cent YoY to US$ 3 billion in Q3 FY22, from US$ 2.9 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Its diluted earnings per share (EPS) was US$ 0.73 apiece in the third quarter of fiscal 2022, against US$ 0.68 per diluted share in Q3 FY21.

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Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW)

Lowe's Companies' retail firm dealing on home improvement is also expected to report its quarterly earnings this week on Thursday before the market opens. The LOW stock had a dividend yield of 2.09 per cent, and its annualized dividend was US$ 4.20.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2022, the Mooresville, North Carolina-based company posted total sales of US$ 23.65 billion, down from US$ 24.42 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.

The US$ 129.91 billion market cap company reported net earnings of US$ 2.33 billion, or US$ 3.51 per diluted share in Q1 FY22, up from US$ 2.32 billion, or US$ 3.21 per diluted share in Q1 FY21.

Lowe's said during its first-quarter earnings release that it expects its total sales to be in the range of US$ 97 billion to US$ 99 billion in fiscal 2022.

Deere & Company (NYSE: DE)

The machinery and heavy equipment manufacturing firm, Deere & Company, holds a market cap of US$ 111.07 billion. DE stock had a dividend yield of 1.28 per cent, and its annualized dividend is US$ 4.52.

Deere & Company posted an 11 per cent surge in its second quarter fiscal 2022 net sales and revenue of US$ 13.37 billion. For the first six months, its net sales and revenue grew eight per cent YoY to US$ 22.93 billion.

In Q2 FY22, its net income rose by 17 per cent YoY to US$ 2.09 billion, or US$ 6.81 per diluted share, from US$ 1.79 billion, or US$ 5.68 per diluted share in Q2 FY21.

Bottom line:

The previous week marked a crucial period for the market, with several key economic data released by the government. According to Labor Department, the US Consumer Price Index, a key gauge to measure inflation, remained unchanged in the prior month on an adjusted basis, following a surge of 1.3 per cent in June.

However, on an annual basis, the figure declined while relieving investors that inflation might be cooling. In the past 12 months, CPI rose 8.5 per cent in July, following a jump of 9.1 per cent in the prior month.

Given the macroeconomic factors that may remain in the coming days, investors should tread cautiously before investing.