Last week, we saw a mixed bag in terms of news. On the one hand, we saw some of the best earnings reports we have ever seen out of giants like MSFT and CMG. However, on the other hand, Q1 GDP missed expectations by a fairly wide margin, and the housing market continues to show instability with pending home sales missing by a huge margin. This uncertainty in the market has led the Nasdaq, S&P, and Dow up between 0.5% and 1.5% week-over-week, whereas the Russell was down nearly 1.5% in the same time period.
Although PCE inflation metrics came in either met expectations or came very close to meeting expectations, there were some other economic datapoints that missed by a wide margin. The most prominent of which was Q1 GDP, which was expected to come in at 2.0%, however, the reading came in at just 1.1%, a huge upset. Additionally, pending home sales were expected to have a 0.5% increase, whereas in reality, there was a 5.2% decrease, spelling continued trouble for the real estate market. Â
All eyes will be trained on the Fed and Jerome Powell this week, as they decide what they will do with the federal funds rate in May. Currently, everyone is expecting to see the final quarter-point hike in May. However, the Fed has been known to surprise us. While we likely won’t see anything other than a quarter-point hike, it’ll be important to pay attention to what Fed Charmain Powell says in the press conference. In recent months, his commentary has been very helpful in foreshadowing what is to come in terms of Fed actions.Â
Although we just got through the most important week in terms of Q1 earnings season, this week will also be jam packed with important earnings releases. A few of the companies reporting earnings this week are:
05/01 – Stryker Corporation (SYK), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), Arista Networds (ANET), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), VICI Properties (VICI)
05/02 – Pfizer (PFE), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Starbucks Corporation (SBUX), BP plc (BP), Uber Technologies (UBER), Marathon Petroleum (MPC), Marriott International (MAR), Ford Motor Company (F)
05/03 – Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), CVS Health Corporation (CVS), Estee Lauder Companies (EL), MercadoLibreInc. (MELI), Public Storage (PSA), The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC)
05/04 – Apple Inc. (AAPL), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (SHEL), Anheuser-Busch Inbev (BUD), ConocoPhillips (COP), Booking Holdings (BKNG), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN), Shopify Inc. (SHOP), Monster Beverage (MNST)
05/05 – Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/BRK.B), Novo Nordisk (NVO), Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD)
The most important (and largest) company that will report earnings this week is AAPL. While we’ve largely seen nothing but great news from big tech companies so far, we’ll have to wait to see what’s in store for Apple. Last quarter they reported a decline in Mac sales, so it will be interesting to see if that trend continues, and if it has spread to any of their other products!
We’ll also hear from some large oil and gas companies, such as BP, MPC, SHEL, and COP. While these companies very seldomly move the market, it will be important to hear what they have to say with regard to the price trend for oil and natural gas as we enter the energy-intensive summer months.
Some important semiconductor companies will be reporting earnings this week as well, such as NXPI, AMD, and QCOM. While we’ve heard from quite a few other chip-makers, it’s important to keep an eye on these companies as well, as they are huge players in the space.
Monitoring the market conditions this week.
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