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Investors have little time to relax with last week’s shock employment rate being followed up next week with a read on consumer price inflation that has the potential to rattle the markets if it is believed to reset the FOMC rate hike plan. Economist forecast a 7.3% increase in CPI, which would mark the highest rate of inflation since 1981. On the earnings front, blue chips Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Disney (NYSE:DIS) are some of the big names to report, although one of the more intriguing reports could be from Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ:PTON) – with drama ramping up around the pandemic superstar that has fallen on hard times. Another big event will be the first investor day for Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) since it went public.
Earnings spotlight: Monday, February 7 Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN), Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS), Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), Tenet Healthcare (NYSE:THC) and Simon Property (NYSE:SPG).
Earnings spotlight: Tuesday, February 8 BP (NYSE:BP), Centene (NYSE:CNC), Pfizer (PFE), Sysco (NYSE:SYY), DuPont (NYSE:DD), Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) and Chipotle (NYSE:CMG).
Earnings spotlight: Wednesday, February 9 Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC), CVS Health (NYSE:CVS), MSG Entertainment (NYSE:MSGE) and DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG), PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP), Disney (DIS), Uber (UBER) and Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT).
Earnings spotlight: Thursday, February 10 AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN), Coca-Cola (KO), Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) and Kellogg (NYSE:K), Zillow (NASDAQ:ZG) and Equitable Holdings (NYSE:EQH).
Earnings spotlight: Friday, February 11 Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) and Under Armour (NYSE:UAA).
IPO watch: No IPOs are on the calendar for next week as the market stays in a quiet mode with new offerings. Analyst research will open up on TPG Inc. (NASDAQ:TPG) on February 7 and Cerberus Cyber Sentinel (NASDAQ:CISO) on February 8. Also on the calendar, IPO lockup periods expire on Hertz Global (NASDAQ:HTZ) and Eliem Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ELYM) on February 7, as well as CI&T (NYSE:CINT) and Southern States Bancshares (NASDAQ:SSBK) on February 8, Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE) and Lulu’s Fashion Lounge Holdings (NASDAQ:LVLU) on February 9 and Dutch Bros (NYSE:BROS) and Vallon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VLON) on February 10. Some of the lockup expirations are just for a certain block of shares.
Projected dividend increases: Companies forecast to boost their quarterly dividend payouts include Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) to $0.21 from $0.15, Ametek (NYSE:AME) to $0.24 from $0.20, Kinsale Capital (NYSE:KNSL) to $0.13 from $0.11, Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR) to $0.70 from $0.60, T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) to $1.22 from $1.08, CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) to $0.105 from $0.933, Robert Half International (NYSE:RHI) to $0.42 from $0.38, Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE:REXR) to $0.265 from $0.240, Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) to $0.68 from $0.62 and Genpact Limited (NYSE:G) to $0.1175 from $0.1075.
PepsiCo earnings preview: PepsiCo (PEP) is set to deliver its Q4 earnings report to expectations for revenue of $24.21B and EPS of $1.52. Analysts are forecasting solid net price realization for the company in North America and think the comparisons for key international markets will look strong. The company’s operating margin guidance could end up being the key pullout from the report. PepsiCo is up 1% YTD as the stock has attracted some value and dividend investors amid some market jitters.
Spotlight on Uber: One of the biggest events of the week will be the Uber Technologies (UBER) Investor Day event. It will mark the first investor day for the company since its IPO and could spark new interest in the mobility player. Investors will be focused on the long-term financial targets presented by Uber and the commentary on short-term pricing/wait time trends. Also look for some updates on the regulatory backdrop and the upside seen with the $1T grocery market opportunity. Just ahead of the event, Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform rating on Uber and said the investor day could serve as a positive catalyst. Shares of Uber are down 11% YTD. The read-through from Uber could impact sentiment on Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) and DoorDash (NYSE:DASH).
What could go right at Peloton? After a string of negative developments to start the year, Peloton (PTON) hopes to reset the narrative with its earnings report and corporate update. Peloton has topped sales expectation in seven of the last eight quarters, but has only topped EPS marks in four of the eight quarters. While execs will be on the hot seat to explain the temporarily production halt of bike and treadmill products due to softer-than-anticipated demand, some analysts think shares have over corrected relative to the underlying business conditions and could recover. Stifel notes that Peloton has been trading below pre-pandemic levels, despite the company having a significantly larger subscriber base and new additions that are outpacing prior levels. Baird also sees upside as it notes the potential higher value for the subscription business assuming management can reinforce confidence in PTON’s ability to transition to a profitable growth model. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank says management’s performance on the earnings call is an “uncommonly high stakes event” from which bulls need to come away with conviction that PTON is willing and able to adapt correctly to an evolving landscape on a timely basis. “If the update is judged to be a success in that regard, we think the setup is there for a meaningful lift to the stock, at least on a short-term basis,” reasons the firm. Earnings days arrives for Peloton with the company seeing activist pressure and being the subject of increasing M&A speculation. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been floated before as a natural fit to be interested in the Peloton (PTON) ecosystem as have Nike (NYSE:NKE) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). Other suggestions also have Peloton working out a deal to combine with Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) or SoulCycle.
Corporate events: Amgen (AMGN) will hold a business review meeting on February 8. FreightCar America (NASDAQ:RAIL) is scheduled to hold a strategic update call to provide a brief overview of 2021 successes, as well as the go-forward strategy and outlook for this year. One of the biggest events of the week will be the Uber Technologies (UBER) Investor Day. GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) will host a virtual investor day with presentations that focus on the company’s long-term strategy, innovation initiatives, financial framework, capital allocation strategy. Check out some of the other events scheduled for next week that could lead to share price movements in Seeking Alpha’s Catalyst Watch.
SPAC deals: Shareholders with Thayer Ventures Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ:TVAC) meet to approve the SPAC deal to take luxury travel startup player Inspirato public. Shareholders with M3-Brigade Acquisition II Corp. (NYSE:MBAC) will vote on the SPAC deal to take Syniverse public. Syniverse is described as a global technology provider of mission-critical mobile platforms for carriers and enterprises. Also, shareholders with Growth Capital Acquisition (NASDAQ:GCAC) meet to vote on the SPAC deal to take lidar maker Cepton Technologies public in a deal expected to be valued at $1.5B. The public lidar sector already includes Quanergy, Velodyne (NASDAQ:VLDR), Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ:LAZR), AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR), Ouster (NYSE:OUST), Innoviz Technologies (NASDAQ:INVZ) and Aeva Technologies (NYSE:AEVA). Another SPAC deal that could close next week is the Novus Capital Corporation II (NYSE:NXU) deal to take sustainable energy storage player Energy Vault public.
M&A tidbits : The HSR regulatory review period on the AMD (NASDAQ:AMD)-Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX) deal ends on February, which could clear a path for the highly-anticipated merger to close. Shareholders with vote on the buyout by Advent.
Annual meetings: Companies with annual meetings set for next week include Dolby (NYSE:DLB) and Central Garden (NASDAQ:CENT) on February 8, as well as Tyson Foods (TSN) on February 10.
Barron’s mentions: The publication identifies six winners for the new U.S. economic reopening The stocks are said to offer what really will count as the pandemic fades into history – stable earnings, steady returns on equity and strong cash flow. Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG), Raytheon (NYSE:RTX), McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) and United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) make that list of post-pandemic winners. Separately, Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) is also recommended with shares looking cheap and the company having a good track record of innovation.
Sources: EDGAR, Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters, Renaissance Capital
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