Wall Street Breakfast: The Week Ahead

Economic reports in the week ahead

The earnings spotlight turns to blue chips next week with Johnson and Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), IBM (IBM), Bank of America (BAC), Procter & Gamble (PG), Travelers (TRV), Dow Inc. (DOW), American Express (NYSE:AXP) and Verizon Communications (VZ) some of the big names heading into the earnings confessional. Despite the earnings deluge, Elon Musk’s pursuit of Twitter (TWTR) could still be the top story of the week with new twists anticipated following the poison pill fired off by Twitter. On the economic calendar, the focus turns to housing with the National Association of Home Builders’ survey, a housing starts report, and the existing home sales update all due out. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey and latest PMI prints will also be released. Finally, Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) holds an investor event on April 20 that could impact other stocks based on the potential expansion by the retailer into new categories like tennis, golf, footwear, and hiking.

Earnings spotlight: Monday, April 18 Bank of America (BAC), Charles Schwab (SCHW) and J.B. Hunt Transport (JBHT).

Earnings spotlight: Tuesday, April 19 Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Travelers (TRV), IBM (IBM) and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Hasbro (HAS).

Earnings spotlight: Wednesday, April 20 Anthem (ANTM), Procter & Gamble (PG), Abbott Labs (ABT), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), United Airlines (UAL) and Lam Research (LRCX).

Earnings spotlight: Thursday, April 21 AT&T (T), Dow (DOW), American Airlines (AAL), Philip Morris International (PM), Snap (SNAP) and Nucor (NUE).

Earnings spotlight: Friday, April 22 Verizon (VZ), American Express (AXP) and Kimberly-Clark (KMB).

IPO watch: No new IPOs are expected to debut next week. The quiet period expires on AN2 Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ANTX) on April 19 to free up analysts to post ratings. A number of IPO lockups are also due to expire next week, which could put selling pressure on shares. Watch Stronghold Digital (SDIG), Context Therapeutics (CNTX), Portillo’s (NASDAQ:PTLO), P10 (PX), Vita Coco (COCO), Ventyx Bio (VTYX), Aris Water Solutions (ARIS), Xilio (XLO), Minerva Surgical (UTRS) and Infobird (IFBD) with insiders able to unload some shares.

Projected dividend increases: The list of companies forecast to boost their quarterly dividend payout next week includes Schlumberger NV (SLB) to $0.21 from $0.125, Parker-Hannifin (PH) to $1.37 from $1.03, Nasdaq Inc. (NDAQ) to $0.59 from $0.54, Celanese (CE) to $0.74 from $0.68, Avery Dennison (AVY) to $0.74 from $0.68, Kinder Morgan (KMI) to $0.285 from $0.27, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) to $1.11 from $1.06, Sonoco Products (SON) to $0.47 from $0.44, Travelers (TRV) to $0.91 from $0.88, and Southern Company (SO) to $0.68 from $0.66.

Corporate events: Hewlett Packard Enterprises (NYSE:HPE) CEO Antonio Neri will be featured on the Bank of America CEO Call Series on April 18. InnoCare Pharma (OTCPK:INCPF) will hold a R&D Day event with a “Science Drives Innovation” theme on April 20. Management will update investors on the latest development of the company’s research and development and other business development. Lululemon (LULU) will host an analyst day event featuring presentations from Chief Executive Officer Calvin McDonald and other members of the senior leadership team. The company’s new five-year growth strategy is expected to be unveiled. On April 21, Charles Schwab (SCHW) will host a Spring Business Update for institutional investors. The company will update on recent developments and management’s strategic focus. Read more about the events next week that could impact shares prices in Seeking Alpha’s Catalyst Watch.

Conference schedule: The World Vaccine Congress runs from April 18-21 and will feature appearances by a large number of healthcare companies, including GeoVax (GOVX), Celsion Corporation (CLSN), and Blue Water Vaccines (NASDAQ:BWV). Other conferences of note during the week include the Benzinga Psychedelics Capital Conference, the Sequire Cannabis & Psychedelic Conference, the Kempen Life Sciences Conference, the NobleCon18 Capital Markets Conference, and the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference.

Spotlight on healthcare earnings: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) kicks off earnings season for the healthcare sector on April 19 with a report that is seen as a bellwether for the industry. The quarter has seen lingering pandemic headwinds and increased F/X pressure on top of what is usually a seasonally light quarter for the bio pharma industry, notes JPMorgan, “We don’t expect many Biopharmas to lower 2022 guidance, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see in-line to moderately weaker performance,” previewed the firm. Looking further ahead strength is seen across JNJ’s broader portfolio, with Pharma (headlined by Oncology and Immunology) and Medical Devices (Orthopedics) called well-positioned to regain momentum due to their solid underlying fundamentals.

Netflix earnings preview: Netflix (NFLX) will report earnings on April 19 to expectations for revenue of $7.9B and EPS of $2.87. As usual, the bigger focus will be on global paid subscriber additions. The streaming giant guided for 2.5M net adds and the consensus forecast from analysts is for 2.6M. One of the key metrics from the report will be average revenue per user, which is seen rising 8% year-over-year to $11.75 for the quarter. The content slate is stronger for Netflix in Q32, with notable releases including Ozark finale), Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1, Elite Season 5, Our Great National Parks, Russian Doll and a new season of Peaky Blinders.

Procter & Gamble earnings preview: Procter & Gamble (PG) is due to report FQ3 earnings on April 20 before the market open. Revenue of $18.69B is anticipated and an EPS mark of $1.30. Organic sales are forecast to rise 6.4% during the quarter with a boost from higher pricing. Gross margin is seen contracting to 48% of sales due to higher commodities and freight costs. Ahead of the report, JPMorgan said its view on P&G is that consumption in the U.S. continues to remain healthy, despite the gradual build in pricing at retail. The reads on demand trends in Europe and China are seen as crucial to overall sentiment on the stock. Morgan Stanley has a positive long-term view on Procter & Gamble with the market share gains called sustainable and recent reinvestment setting it up in a strong position to take pricing easier than peers.

Annual meetings: Companies with annual general meetings scheduled for next week include Whirlpool (WHR) on April 19, both Levi Strauss (LEVI) and AutoNation (AN) on April 20, and Guess (GES) on April 22.

Barron’s mentions: Progyny (PGNY) is profiled favorably this week. Business is booming for the $3.8 billion market-cap company, which buys services from clinics and sells companies low-cost plans for those needing help with infertility. The cover story dives into potential risk with ESG investing. The popular strategy is noted to already be underperforming and is seen facing more tests ahead due to “market swings, investor biases, and the inherent challenges of defining and measuring environmental, social, and governance impact and risk.” ESG could be a passing fad unless investment returns are solid, warns the publication. The Twitter (TWTR)-Elon Musk drama is also broken down. The general conclusion from the piece is that Twitter is unlikely to recapture its peak price in the $80s from last year and that a deal with Musk or another buyer may be the best strategy.

Sources: EDGAR, Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters, Renaissance Capital

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