Thursday stocks to keep an eye on

4 companies to watch

Hewlett-Packard Co. share price is supposed to be fluctuating on the market today. The company reported a sharp drop in second quarter earnings but still beat analyst expectations.

Sears Holdings Corp. is reported to record a loss of $0.60 per share in the first quarter according to consensus survey by FactSet. Four analysts recommend investing in their shares.

Dollar Tree, the discount store giant is expected to gain post first quarter earnings of $0.57 per share.

GameStop Corp. is forecast to record first quarter earnings of $0.40 per share. Companys shares came under pressure of Microsoft plans to charge fee on used Xbox games.

Meanwhile, German stocks fell the most in more than a month amid investor concern that the Federal Reserve will reduce its stimulus measures if the U.S. economy improves and as data showed Chinese manufacturing is contracting.

Volkswagen AG and Continental AG lost more than 2% as a gauge of automakers posted the second-biggest drop on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Aixtron SE declined 2.6 percent after saying it will cut 20 percent of its German workforce.

The DAX Index slumped 2.1% to 8,351.98 at the close of trading in Frankfurt, its biggest drop since April 17. The benchmark gauge has still rallied 9.7% this year as central banks around the world maintained monetary stimulus. The broader HDAX Index also fell 2.1% today.

“After almost all major global indexes recently reached all-time highs, maybe now is the time to say sell at the end of May and go away,” Daniel Kukalj, an equity analyst at Close Brothers Seydler Research in Frankfurt, wrote in a note for Bloomberg. “The expectations on corporate earnings are immensely high and a disappointment is likely if the economic environment does not change dramatically. Furthermore, China’s growth is faltering.”