As April approaches its final trading days and the first quarter earnings season has passed its halfway point, the stock market is primed for a lively week of news. income from Apple ((AAPL)), Amazon.com (AMZN), big pharma and biotech names like Pfizer (PFE), Merck (MRK) and Amgen (AMGN) are due. It will be a crucial week for the e-commerce sector Ebay (EBAY), PayPal (PYPL) and Etsy (ETSY) on the roster. And the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting marks a busy week for the economic data industry.
X
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It’s time to start building those watch lists and not limit yourself to tech stocks. Dell Technologies (DELL) and Data dog (DDOG) show positive action. This also applies to chip megaliths Nvidia (NVDA), Uranium Game Cameco (CCJ) and Retail Titan Walmart (WMT). Several of these are flashing early or pullback entries, mostly within bases. Nvidia is recovering above its 50-day line and is right at the trend line entry. Cameco is trading below a 50.43 buy point on a cup-with-handle basis. Datadog is about 6% below a flat 138.61 buy point. Walmart will have a flat-base buy point of 61.66 at Friday’s close. Most are showing decent relative strength despite the difficult period for the market.
Fasten your seatbelts: A big business week
The coming week will be huge for business news. The Federal Reserve will release its policy update on Wednesday. The stakes have fallen significantly after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on April 16 all but dashed hopes of a rate cut before July. Even that is far-fetched. However, the Fed is expected to confirm its plan to slow the pace of balance sheet reduction as Treasury and mortgage securities mature. Friday’s March jobs report would have to make a pretty big mistake to change the outlook after a string of strong results. The Fed’s main measure of wage growth, the employment cost index, will be released on Tuesday. The pace of the fourth quarter is expected to slow further.
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Apple iPhone sales in focus
Consumer electronics giant Apple will report its second-quarter results after the market closes on Thursday. Investors will be closely scrutinizing the company’s iPhone sales amid reports of weak demand, particularly in China. The company’s services business is expected to be a bright spot in the March quarter. Analysts expect Apple to earn $1.50 per share on revenue of $90.3 billion. That would result in a year-over-year decline in profit of 1% and revenue of 5%. Analysts expect Apple to return to growth in the June quarter. Additionally, analysts will be eager to hear Apple’s comments on the first quarter of Apple Vision Pro headset sales. Apple shares have fallen 12% year to date, marking a fourth monthly decline.
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Dow gets fast and furious
The Dow industrial stocks are facing a difficult week of earnings, as not only Apple, Merck and Amgen are reporting, but also Coke (KO), MC Donalds (MCD) and 3M (MMM). Coca-Cola and 3M are both playing with breakouts ahead of earnings. By the end of the week, two-thirds of the benchmark participants will have checked in for the first quarter.
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Amazon reports first-quarter results after the market closes on Tuesday. Analysts expect revenue to rise 12% to $142.6 billion, according to FactSet. Analysts are looking for a 170% rise in earnings to 84 cents per share. Investors will benefit from Amazon Web Services’ cloud computing results. Revenue is expected to rise 15% year over year to $24.6 billion, the second straight quarter in which the company reported an increase, following several slower periods during a slump in corporate IT spending. After Metaplatforms (META) raised its investment forecast last week, investors will also be keeping an eye on Amazon’s costs related to AI.
Pharma/Biotech: A big week for Big Pharma
The biopharma giant Pfizer, GSK (GSK) and Amgen are ready to report their first quarter results next week. Pfizer and GSK lead with releases before markets open on Wednesday. Analysts expect strong launches of its respiratory syncytial virus vaccines, Abrysvo and Arexvy. Amgen will follow after the market closes on Thursday. Revenues for all three companies are expected to be flat or lower. Pfizer falls 70%. Diabetes and weight loss giants Eli Lilly (LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NVO) will report its first quarter results early Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. Lilly’s revenue is expected to rise 52%.
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PayPal reports first quarter results on Tuesday. Analysts expect single-digit EPS and sales increases. PayPal shares are consolidating in 2024 as new CEO Alex Chriss looks to reignite growth. eBay and its rival Etsy report their first-quarter results late Wednesday. eBay expectations are for single-digit increases. Etsy’s target is EPS growth of 8% and revenue decline of 1%. eBay is ending 10 weeks of support on a flat basis. Shares are up 19% so far this year.
Stock market profits coming soon
MONDAY
Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) reports first quarter results early Monday. FactSet analysts expect earnings to rise 16% to $3.39 per share on revenue growth of 5.4% to $1.08 billion. Stocks are rebounding from 10-week support.
TUESDAY
Super microcomputer (SMCI) reports third-quarter results after the market close on Tuesday. Wall Street expects the data center specialist to earn $5.80 per share in the March quarter, up 256% from a year ago, on revenue of $3.99 billion, up 211 % corresponds. The stock is up 197% this year, recovering from its highs.
modern micro devices (AMD) reports first-quarter results late Tuesday. Analysts expect the chipmaker to earn 62 cents per share on revenue of $5.48 billion. In the same period last year, AMD earned 60 cents per share on revenue of $5.35 billion.
Starbucks (SBUX) delivers its Q2 report late Tuesday. FactSet expects earnings growth to slow for the second straight quarter, rising 8.1% to 80 cents per share. Revenue is expected to rise 4.7% to $9.13 billion, with sales growth slowing for the fourth straight quarter.
WEDNESDAY
MasterCard (MA) First-quarter earnings due early Wednesday are expected to rise 16% to $3.25 per share, while revenue rose 10.3% to $6.34 billion. The results would mark two consecutive quarters of slowing profit growth. The stock is up 8% so far this year.
THURSDAY
CyberArk (CYBR) reports first-quarter earnings early Thursday. Analysts expect adjusted earnings of 28 cents per share, compared with a loss of 17 cents last year. Sales are expected to rise 32% to $213.4 million. CyberArk sells identity and access management tools. The company is hosting an investor day on May 21st.
block out (SQ), owner of Square, reports first-quarter results after the market closes on Thursday. Analysts expect adjusted earnings per share to rise 80%. Revenue is expected to rise 17%, including Cash App transactions for the digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Another important metric is gross profit, which is $2.02 billion.
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