As if consumer product companies didn’t have enough headaches, a recent Reuters story reports that mega-customer Walmart is putting another bear squeeze on its suppliers.

Each of the following companies counts Wal-mart and Target as a large customer, suffers weak sales growth and has a mountain of debt.

Spectrum, Edgewell and Church & Dwight all report earnings over the next month. I expect shares to be under pressure as investors come to grips with the difficulties in growing profits in this tough environment.

Buy to open the July 21, 2017 put on Spectrum Brands (SPB) with a strike price of $130 at $3.20 or lower. Symbol (SPB170721P130)

Buy to open the July 21, 2017 put on Church & Dwight (CHD) with a strike price of $45.00 at 35c or lower. Symbol (CHD170721P45)

Buy to open the May 19, 2017 put on Edgewell Personal Care (EPC) with a strike price of $65.00 at 80c or lower. Symbol (EPC170519P65)

According to the report, Walmart recently met with suppliers and requested they lower prices materially. Other large domestic customers like Target, Kroger and Walgreens have all reported weak sales. Walgreen’s most recent period showed a 3% decline in retail sales.

Target’s sales were down 6% last year and are not expected to improve this year until the company realigns its product mix. In its most recent call, Target COO John Mulligan complained that the retailer simply had too much inventory and would be stocking significantly less product in its warehouses.

EVENTS

Date: May 2, 9 am (EST) Spectrum Brands (NYSE: SPB) second quarter results.

Call: To access the live audio conference call, U.S. participants may call 877-556-5260. The conference call ID number is 92829532

Listen For:  Spectrum has enjoyed benefits to profit margins from the company’s May 2015 $1.4 billion purchase of highly profitable Armor All and STP auto brands. Listen for trends in “organic” sales and expectations for price growth versus unit growth. Pressure in price growth will hurt profits.

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Date: May 4, 10 am (EST) Church & Dwight (NYSE: CHD) first quarter earnings call.

Call: To participate, dial 877-322-9846 within the U.S. and Canada, or 631-291-4539 internationally, using access code 1600385 or listen to the webcast on the company’s investor relations page.

Listen For: Church & Dwight derives 84% of its sales from the U.S. and Wal-mart accounts for almost one quarter of its business. What are plans for price “adjustments” in 2017?

Its brand portfolio includes Arm & Hammer, Oxiclean and Lil’ Critters gummy vitamins. None are in growth mode. Revenue was down 3% last year and pricing pressures will likely crunch profits this year. Listen for trends in laundry dosing, which has been in decline.

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Date: Late April- Edgewell Personal Care (NYSE: EPC) second quarter earnings call.

Call: Details to be sent when announced

Listen For: Edgewell derives 63% of its revenue from its wet shave products, including Schick razors. The razor category is under massive assault from low priced home delivery razor firms like Dollar Shave.

What is Edgewell’s plan to get some of that business back? Look for terms like promotions and “planogram” adjustments, a fancy term for losing shelf space.