2nd-Quarter Reports Expected From Retailers

The flood of second-quarter earnings reports has subsided, but a slew of retailers will be on Wall Street’s radar. Sector heavyweights Kmart and Target are scheduled to issue their corporate scorecards, along with Lowe’s, Toys R Us, Intimate Brands and Saks.

In the high-tech sector, network testing equipment maker Agilent Technologies and medical technology company Medtronic are set to report.

Some 326 companies have issued third-quarter profit warnings, approaching the record set in the first quarter of 2001. The picture could get uglier, said Chuck Hill, First Call’s director of research. “We’re probably going to see continued slashing of the third- and fourth-quarter estimates for at least a little while yet.”