With the majority of mega-cap earnings results already released, this upcoming week's reports will focus mostly on retailers and their forecasts for the second half of this year amid inflationary pressures and lingering supply-chain disruptions.
Investors will also be watching for updates on the ongoing worker shortage and the impact of all of this on retail sales and prices. US consumer prices rose by more than forecast in April, indicating inflation will persist at elevated levels for longer. Inflation, which is running near a four-decade high, could keep the Federal Reserve on a path of aggressive interest-rate hikes.
Hurt by a worsening economic environment, the S&P 500 posted a sixth straight week of declines last week, despite its upswing at the close of trade on Friday—the longest losing streak since June 2011.
Below, we've short-listed three stocks that could see some accelerated trading action after they report quarterly numbers during the week ahead:
1. Walmart
America’s biggest retailer, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) reports its fiscal 2023, first-quarter earnings on Tuesday, May 17, before the market opens. Consensus anticipates EPS of $1.47 on revenue of $138.83 billion.
Walmart surpassed Wall Street’s quarterly profit expectations for Q4 and gave an upbeat outlook for Q1 in February, signaling confidence in its ability to handle rising inflation and supply-chain disruptions. WMT shares closed on Friday at $148.05, up more than 2% this year.
Comparable sales at US Walmart stores will increase “slightly above 3%” excluding fuel during the current fiscal year, which ends in early 2023, the retailer said in February.
Retailers in the US are navigating scarce transportation capacity, higher wages and rising fuel costs. But rising inflation could actually be a positive for Walmart by luring more customers from all income levels to seek out the company’s everyday low prices.
2. Home Depot
Home improvement giant Home Depot (NYSE:HD) also reports its first quarter earnings on Tuesday before the market opens. Analysts expect $3.68 a share in profit on sales of $36.57 billion.
While sales were robust for the home-improvement retailer until the year end, there were clear signs that customer transactions were declining and the cost was increasing. These headwinds have begun to hurt gross margin, a closely watched gauge of profitability. Home Depot shares closed on Friday at $296.03, after falling 28% this year.
While offering investors a roadmap for 2022, HD said in February its comparable-store sales growth is expected to be “slightly positive” this year after an 11% gain in the year ended Jan. 30. It projects that earnings per share, after excluding some items, will rise by a low-single-digit percentage following a 30% increase last year.
3. Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) will report its fiscal 2022, third quarter earnings on Wednesday, May 18 after the market close. The San Jose-based networking giant will likely report $0.86 a share profit on sales of $13.34 billion, according to analysts’ consensus forecast.
Under Chief Executive Officer Chuck Robbins, the Silicon Valley stalwart is being transformed into a provider of networking services delivered over the internet as well as a seller of software. Revenue from subscriptions will reach 50% of Cisco’s total earnings by fiscal 2025, the company told analysts in September. Cisco stock closed on Friday at $49.56, down about 20% so far this year.
Robbins told investors in February that his company is seeing strong demand for equipment across its businesses, driven by companies looking to upgrade their infrastructure.
The company is swamped with orders it can’t fill because of a shortage of components—a problem hurting industries across the economy.
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