With fresh hopes of economic recovery emerging after the Senate moved closer to passing the $1.9 trillion stimulus package, stock futures are probably headed for one of their best phases.
After slipping from last month’s record highs, the S&P 500 index bounced back and hovered near the peak, gaining more than 3% this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed the 31,000-mark once again, taking a cue from the uptrend the broad market is witnessing.
Adding to the positive sentiment, initial jobless claims dropped to about 779,000 last week, which is better than the number economists had predicted. Though the employment index dropped to the lowest level in about two months, it remains at historically high levels.
The job market owes the recent improvement mainly to the decline in new confirmed coronavirus infections. The current level of hiring looks inadequate to ease the strain on the system, but the situation is expected to improve as the vaccination drive picks up pace.
Google parent Alphabet and e-commerce behemoth Amazon was in the spotlight at the beginning of the week, with both reporting blockbuster results for the most recent quarter.
Amazon’s quarterly revenue crossed the $100-billion mark for the first time, while a rebound in advertising lifted Alphabet’s top-line to a record high. The other major firms that reported earnings on Tuesday, the second day of the month, were China-based Alibaba Group, United Parcel Service and Electronic Arts.
The earnings scene cooled off since then, with the only important announcements being those of Biogen, Qualcomm and PayPal, which published their quarterly numbers on Wednesday. On Friday, Ford Motor Company reported positive earnings for its fourth quarter, defying analysts’ estimates for a loss.
The number of big companies reporting next week is fewer. After a soft start, Tuesday will see network-gear maker Cisco unveiling its second-quarter numbers. Coca-Cola and General Motors are preparing to publish fourth-quarter data on February 10, while Walt Disney is scheduled to report on February 11.
Key Earnings to Watch
Monday: SoftBank Group Corp., Dun & Bradstreet Corp, Hasbro Inc., Loews Corp, Take-Two Interactive Software, and Nuance Communications
Tuesday: International Petroleum Corporation, DuPont, Gartner Inc., trivago N.V., Fox Corp, Hanesbrands Inc., S&P Global Inc., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Jones Lang Lasalle Inc., Canopy Growth Corporation, Akamai Technologies, Cisco Systems, Genpact, Lyft, NCR Corp, Alteryx, Fiserv, Glu Mobile, Mattel, Yelp, and Twitter
Wednesday: Teva Pharmaceuticals, thyssenkrupp, Interpublic Group of Companies, Coca-Cola, Under Armour, Canopy Rivers, IQVIA, America Movil, General Motors, Primerica, Voya Financial, Helmerich & Payne, Precision Drilling Corp, Uber Technologies, Western Union, Lumen Technologies, MGM Resorts International, TechTarget, Trimble, Zynga, and Knoll
Thursday: Commerzbank, PepsiCo, Tyson Foods, YETI Holdings, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Iridium Communications, iRobot Corp, Shutterstock, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, The Kraft Heinz Company, Duke Energy Corp, Spirit Airlines, Ryder System, Expedia, Forrester Research, HubSpot, Verisign, Walt Disney Company, Aurora Cannabis, BJ’s Restaurants, Cloudflare, Cognex Corp, Datadog, GoDaddy, Pixelworks, SurveyMonkey, and Telstra Corp
Friday: Norsk Hydro, LOreal SA, Immunogen, Supreme Cannabis, Air Canada, Fortis, Agnico Eagle Mines, Dominion Energy, Noble Midstream Partners, Moody’s Corp, and Regency Centers Corp
Key Corporate Conferences to Watch
Key Investor Days/AGMs to Watch
Key US Economic Events
The following are notable companies which have reported their earnings last week. In case if you have missed catching up on their performance, click the respective links to skim through the transcripts to glean more insights.
Harley-Davidson Q4 2020 Earnings Transcript
Exxon Mobil Q4 2020 Earnings Transcript
Alibaba Group Q3 2021 Earnings Transcript
Pfizer Q4 2020 Earnings Transcript
Alphabet Q4 2020 Earnings Transcript
Amazon Q4 2020 Earnings Transcript
Electronic Arts Q3 2021 Earnings Transcript
Spotify Q4 2020 Earnings Transcript
eBay Q4 2020 Earnings Transcript
Yum! Brands Q4 2020 Earnings Transcript
GoPro Q4 2020 Earnings Transcript
Pinterest Q4 2020 Earnings Transcript
Snap Q4 2020 Earnings Transcript
If you want to listen to how management responds to analyst questions and the tone they use, you can head over to our YouTube channel to listen to conference calls on the go.