Department store chain Macy’s (NYSE: M) will be reporting earnings this Wednesday before the bell. Here’s what to expect.

Macy's beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 3.6% last quarter, reporting revenues of $4.79 billion, down 4.1% year on year. It was a strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts’ gross margin estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

Is Macy's a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free.

This quarter, analysts are expecting Macy’s revenue to decline 4.5% year on year to $4.87 billion, in line with the 3.5% decrease it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $0.19 per share.

Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Macy's has missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates twice over the last two years.

Looking at Macy’s peers in the general merchandise retail segment, some have already reported their Q2 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Kohl’s revenues decreased 5% year on year, beating analysts’ expectations by 1.4%, and Dillard's reported revenues up 1.4%, topping estimates by 2.6%. Kohl's traded up 17.8% following the results while Dillard's was also up 3.6%.

Read our full analysis of Kohl’s results here and Dillard’s results here.

There has been positive sentiment among investors in the general merchandise retail segment, with share prices up 6.8% on average over the last month. Macy's is up 11.5% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $13.46 (compared to the current share price of $13.27).

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