Stocks To Watch: Investors Key On Jobs Report, OPEC Meeting And Electric Vehicle Reports

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Investors hope March goes out like a lamb after a choppy few weeks amid the blowback from Russia-Ukraine war and anxiety over higher interest rates. Against the rough macro backdrop. OPEC+ will hold a virtual meeting during which the group is expected to keep current production plans in place even with crude oil prices trading at a 14-year high and the International Energy Agency warning on the impact of losing Russian oil. On the economic calendar, the U.S. jobs report for March will be released with economists forecasting a gain of 450K jobs to follow on last month’s blowout mark of 678K. The unemployment rate is seen dropping to 3.7%. Average hourly earnings are expected to be 0.4% higher month-over-month and 5.4% higher year-over-year. Earnings reports are light in the week ahead, but a flurry of deliveries reports from Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Nio (NYSE:NIO), Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) and XPeng (NYSE:XPEV) could put a charge in the broad electric vehicle sector when the calendar turns to April on Friday.


Earnings spotlight: Monday, March 28 XPeng (XPEV), Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) and Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF).

Earnings spotlight: Tuesday, March 29 Solo Brands (NYSE:DTC), Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU), Micron (NASDAQ:MU), Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) and RH (NYSE:RH).

Earnings spotlight: Wednesday, March 30 Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) and Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX).

Earnings spotlight: Thursday, March 31 Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) and BlackBerry (NYSE:BB).

IPO and SPAC watch: Genius Group (GNS), Rail Vision (RVSN) and Wearable Devices (WLDS) could start trading next week as the IPO market looks to heats back up just a bit. IPO share lockup expirations hit for Guardforce AI (NASDAQ:GFAI) on March 28 and Olaplex (NASDAQ:OLPX) on March 29.

Projected dividend increases: Watsco (NYSE:WSO) is forecast to boost its quarterly dividend payout to $2.20 per share from $1.95.

Corporate events: Gildan Activewear (GIL) will hold a virtual Investor Day to provide an overview of the “Gildan Sustainable Growth” strategy on March 29. Immunovant (IMVT) will hold a R&D Day event on March 30, while Five Below (FIVE) will host its inaugural Investor Day to outline the company’s strategic plans and vision through 2025. Flex Ltd. (FLEX) will also hold an investor event. On March 31, SunPower Corporation (SPWR) will host its Analyst Day event. Execs will present on the company’s new initiatives, long-term strategic vision, growth drivers and market opportunity. Check out Seeking Alpha’s Catalyst watch for a full list of events next week that could impact share prices.

Lululemon earnings preview: Investors will get a crack at hearing more about Lululemon’s (LULU) entrance into selling its own line of running shoes. Jefferies has warned that while the new products could be an attractive revenue generator, it may not be good for margins and could provide a distraction from the company’s core business. Lululemon came out of the gate with a 30-day trial offer for new customers and is seeing high interest per Google Search trends. The earnings conference call could delve into how the early rollout is going for the company.

Micron earnings preview: Micron (MU) will report earnings next week with investors cautious around geopolitical headwinds, supply chain dynamics and general PC choppiness. Key questions from the earnings release and conference call with management will be Micron’s update on DRAM and NAND supply. Also look for more color on data center revenue and the potential with the automotive DRAM market. Wells Fargo set full-year estimates on Micron ahead of the tech company’s own guidance and Street averages, while Citi is also constructive on Micron ahead of the report with a view that the semiconductor manufacturer is seeing strong and stable dynamic random access memory pricing.

Electric vehicle deliveries: The EV sector could get a boost at the end of the week when Tesla (TSLA) reports on monthly deliveries and Chinese automakers Nio (NIO), Li Auto (LI) and XPeng (XPEV) post monthly deliveries reports. Investors are trying to look past the near-term headwinds, supply chain slowdowns and commodity inflation to when production can be ramped up to meet supply. Looking ahead, Wedbush Securities thinks Tesla could now be on track to see a 2 million unit run-rate exiting 2022.

Conference schedule: The conference schedule includes the Maxim Growth Conference, the Bank of America Virtual Crypto Mining Conference, the Bank of America ESG Consumer & Retail Conference, the MedInvest Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Investor Conference, the Jefferies Pan-European Mid-Cap Conference and the H.C. Wainwright & Co. Gene Editing and Therapy Conference.

Barron’s mentions: Netflix (NFLX) and other streaming stocks takes their place on the cover this week just ahead of the Academy Awards this weekend. While streamers have hit a rough patch with investors, the continual slow transition away from cable TV is seen as an opportunity and Netflix is called a long-term winner. Netflix’s first-mover advantage, global scale and massive content budget are noted to differentiate the service and keep subscribers growing from a recent tally of 222 million. Prices increases around the world are expected to help pad profit margins. Analysts are forecasting almost $900 million in free cash flow for the company this year, scaling into the billions in the coming years. It is noted that Netflix began buying back stock last year and is likely to continue. Shares trade at roughly 32X expected earnings vs. the five-year average of 71X. Another potential stock winner called out this week is electrical component maker nVent Electric (NYSE:NVT). The company is noted to be benefiting from the growth of automation, data centers and sensors for monitoring complex systems for almost anything that is electrified.

Sources: EDGAR, Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters, Renaissance Capital

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