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Investors have a busy week ahead, with the Federal Reserve set to meet on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to leave the target federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25%-5.5%. SA analyst Damir Tokic said current economic data doesn’t support the case for maintaining rates, adding the S&P 500 index could negatively respond to the pause if 10Y yields spike above 5%. Meanwhile, Investing Group Leader Shareholders Unite detailed why the thesis of immaculate disinflation holds, but flagged the risks of the Fed over-tightening and surging bond yields. Markets will also closely watch the employment numbers due next week – the ADP jobs update, the JOLTS report, non-farm payrolls data, and the Challenger job cuts report – for further clues on how the economy is progressing. And as the earnings season revs up, next week will see quarterly results from industry heavyweights including Apple (AAPL), Qualcomm (QCOM), McDonald’s (MCD), Pfizer (PFE), First Solar (FSLR), and Duke Energy (DUK).
Earnings spotlight: Monday, October 30 – McDonald’s (MCD), Pinterest (PINS), Transocean (RIG), and SoFi Technologies (SOFI).
Earnings spotlight: Tuesday, October 31 – Amgen (AMGN), Caesars Entertainment (CZR), Caterpillar (CAT), First Solar (FSLR), Pfizer (PFE), JetBlue Airways (JBLU), and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
Earnings spotlight: Wednesday, November 1 – CVS Health (CVS), DuPont (DD), Estée Lauder (EL), Humana (HUM), Qualcomm (QCOM), Yum! Brands (YUM), Airbnb (ABNB), Electronic Arts (EA), PayPal (PYPL), AIG (AIG), and Etsy (ETSY).
Earnings spotlight: Thursday, November 2 – Apple (AAPL), Moderna (MRNA), Palantir Technologies (PLTR), Starbucks (SBUX), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN), Duke Energy (DUK), Booking Holdings (BKNG), Paramount Global (PARA), Monster Beverage (MNST), and DraftKings (DKNG).
Earnings spotlight: Friday, November 3 – Dominion Energy (D) and Fluor (FLR).
Volatility watch: Short interest levels are elevated on Novavax (NVAX), Fisker (FSR) and Beyond Meat (BYND). Options trading volume has moved higher in the last few days on Sportsman’s Warehouse (SPWH) and Ebix (EBIX). The most overbought stocks per their 14-day Relative Strength Index are Willis Towers Watson (WTW) and Splunk (SPLK). The most oversold stocks per their 14-day Relative Strength Index are Blackstone (BX), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL).
Dividend watch: Companies projected to boost their quarterly dividend payouts include Sturm, Ruger (RGR) to $0.41 from $0.36, KLA (KLAC) to $1.45 from $1.30, Snap-on (SNA) to $1.79 from $1.62, and Piper Sandler (PIPR) to $0.65 from $0.60. See Seeking Alpha’s list of Quick Dividend Stock Picks.
IPO watch: The IPO market is expected to be relatively quiet next week. The IPO lockup period for Kenvue (KVUE) and Acelyrin (SLRN) will expire on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Kenvue (KVUE) has largely been trading below its $22/share IPO price, while Acelyrin’s (SLRN) stock dropped nearly 50% from its $18/share IPO price.
Apple earnings preview: Apple (AAPL) will report its fourth-quarter results on Thursday, with analysts on average expecting adjusted profit of $1.39 per share and revenue of $89.35B, down 0.9% Y/Y. The results will be the first since the tech giant released its iPhone 15 lineup, which has not been faring well commercially. UBS noted that iPhone 15 demand has continued to weaken, a view echoed by JPMorgan as well as other analysts. Bank of America pointed to growing risks from China, a point of concern as China represents more than 20% of Apple’s (AAPL) revenue. SA analyst Robert Honeywill believes an earnings miss is very likely, while Bill Maurer expects Huawei’s phone launch in China may have dented iPhone sales. Ahead of its earnings report, Apple (AAPL) will release new “scary fast” products on Monday. It’s possible that it could unveil a new version of the 24-inch iMac, though TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously said a new version of the computer may not come before next year.
AMD earnings preview: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will post its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, with the Street expecting adjusted profit of $0.68/share and revenue growth of 2.2% Y/Y at $5.69B. Bank of America believes AMD (AMD) has “limited” upside for the rest of the year, and expects its fourth-quarter guidance to be largely in-line or modestly below consensus as it faces headwinds in its embedded and console sales. KeyBanc also flagged the “modest risk” to AMD’s (AMD) fourth-quarter guidance. SA analyst The Beginner Investor is bullish on AMD (AMD) as the stock is undervalued, and highlighted its strong balance sheet. Note that AMD’s (AMD) rival Qualcomm (QCOM) will post its fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday. KeyBanc expects Qualcomm (QCOM) to post a “beat and raise” due to rush orders from Android smartphones. On the other hand, Dair Sansyzbayev is very pessimistic about Qualcomm’s (QCOM) results due to “massive” near-term headwinds.
Conference schedule: Automotive companies such as AutoNation (AN), AutoZone (AZO) and Genuine Parts (GPC) will attend the 47th Annual Automotive Symposium in Las Vegas, scheduled on October 30-31. Healthcare investors will eye the 38th Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer slated for November 1-5 in San Diego. The event will see participation from Cellectis (CLLS), NexImmune (NEXI), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), and Gamida Cell (GMDA).
Quant ratings: Stocks with recent quant rating changes include Palantir Technologies (PLTR) to Strong Buy from Hold, nCino (NCNO) to Buy from Hold, and Tower Semiconductor (TSEM) to Hold from Sell. See the stocks with the very highest rated Seeking Alpha Quant Ratings.
