The first trading week of the year will see financial markets closed on Monday for the New Year’s Day holiday before economic releases start picking back up again, including the highly-anticipated release of the December jobs report on Friday. Despite some high-profile announcements of job layoffs in recent months, the unemployment rate in the U.S. has only ticked up to 3.7%. A stronger-than-anticipated jobs report could lead to even more hawkishness from the Federal Reserve. Several FOMC members have speeches scheduled for near the end of the week that could also impact investor sentiment. On the conference agenda, CES 2023 is expected to throw a spotlight back on tech innovations such as electric/autonomous vehicles, Web 3.0, and the metaverse. Also in the mix next week, analysts have warned companies across various sectors could pre-announce earnings or issue guidance updates below expectations.
Earnings spotlight: Tuesday, January 3 – SMART Global (NASDAQ:SGH).
Earnings spotlight: Wednesday, January 4 – Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP).
Earnings spotlight: Thursday, January 5 – Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG), Constellation Brands (STZ), and Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW).
Volatility watch: Social media interest is high on Helmerich & Payne (HP), QuantumScape (QS), Kala Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALA), Mullen Automotive (NASDAQ:MULN), and WeTrade Group (NASDAQ:WETG) to start the new year. The stocks with the highest percentage of short interest to total float include Carvana (CVNA), Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), Beyond Meat (BYND), MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), and Digital Brands Group (DBGI).
CES preview: The Consumer Electronics Show returns to its pre-pandemic in-person setup in Las Vegas from January 5-8. Some of the key topics expected to dominate this year include innovation with Web 3.0, the metaverse, digital health, mobility, as well as the usual rush of product demonstrations covering VR/AR or XR headset products, TVs, and laptops. Tech mainstays that will have a notable presence at CES through press conferences, exhibitions, and presentations include Nvidia (NVDA), AMD (AMD), LG Display (NYSE:LPL), HTC (OTC:HTCKF), Panasonic (OTCPK:PCRFY), Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF), Sony (NYSE:SONY), Qualcomm (QCOM), Cisco (CSCO), and Intel (INTC). Look for the automobile industry to have an even larger presence than normal. Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAF) plans to unveil the ID.Aero electric vehicle at CES after teasing the launch last month in China. Meanwhile, Stellantis’ (STLA) Ram is expected to reveal its new Revolution full-size electric pickup truck as a future challenger to the Ford (F) F-150 Lightning and Chevrolet (GM) Silverado EV. A full launch of the electric Ram truck is not anticipated until 2024. A key announcement is also scheduled from Sony Honda Mobility, the joint venture between Sony (SONY) and Honda (HMC). The JV could provide details on its first electric vehicle. Electric commercial vehicle manufacturer Cenntro Electric Group (NASDAQ:CENN) plans to unveil a hydrogen-fuel-cell Class 8 tractor at CES and electric vehicle charging player Blink Charging (NASDAQ:BLNK) will showcase five new products. Cepton (NASDAQ:CPTN) plans to show off its lidar technology and highlight key contract wins, while Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) could also create some news after demonstrating advanced autonomous tractor capabilities. Outside of auto, LG Electronics is set to introduce a new line of minimalist-design appliances, including a washer and dryer. A wildcard to watch at CES will be the introduction of the world’s first wireless OLED TV from a U.S. startup called Displace. The 55-inch OLED TV is said to be ultra-portable at just 20 pounds and can run off its proprietary battery back for around 30 days.
Counting cars: Tesla (TSLA) and Rivian Automotive (RIVN) will be on watch with highly-anticipated Q4 deliveries reports expected in. Chinese electric vehicle automakers NIO (NIO), Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI), and XPeng (NYSE:XPEV) will also report on monthly deliveries amid some concerns on demand. Wedbush Securities forecasts Tesla will announce deliveries in the 410K to 415K range, down from the prior 450K estimate and below the Street whisper numbers in the ~435K range. Baird is even more cautious with an estimate of 378K deliveries for the quarter. Rivian Automotive (RIVN) will also post its quarterly deliveries tally and could update 2023 guidance. Also look for monthly deliveries reports from Chinese electric vehicle makers NIO (NIO), Li Auto (LI), XPeng (XPEV). During a presentation at Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition on Friday, Li Auto (LI) surprised with a teaser that December deliveries will exceed 20K vehicles. The current Li Auto record for monthly deliveries is 15,034 vehicles. Quarterly deliveries reports from Toyota (TM), General Motors (GM), and Ford (F) could also lead to share price jolts.
Corporate events: Edgewise Therapeutics (NASDAQ:EWTX) plans to host a virtual investor call on January 3 to cover preclinical results for its lead cardiac program candidate, EDG-7500. A pair of SPAC deals go to a vote on January 4 with shareholders with Mount Rainier Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:RNER) voting on the proposed merger with Israeli firm HUB Cyber Security and shareholders with CENAQ Energy Corp (NASDAQ:CENQ) voting on the deal to take Bluescape Clean Fuels public in a SPAC deal. On January 5, CytomX Therapeutics (CTMX) plans to outline its pipeline priorities for 2023 and provide a data update for the CX-2029 Phase 2 cohort expansion study. Check out Seeking Alpha’s Catalyst Watch for more events scheduled for next week.
Notable conferences: Major conferences running during the week include the Citi Communications, Media and Entertainment Conference, Goldman Sachs CEOs Unscripted Conference, Goldman Sachs Global Energy and Clean Technology Conference, and Credit Suisse Greater China Technology and Internet Conference.
Box office: Disney’s (DIS) Avatar: The Way of Water is forecast to cross $400M cumulative at the domestic box office this weekend with daily tracking still strong. The James Cameron sequel is likely to dominate the box office for another weekend with only a couple of Sony/Columbia (SONY) limited releases rolling out during the weekend, including Tom Hanks in novel adaptation A Man Called Otto, and literary documentary Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb.
Barron’s mentions: The new year brings a look from the publication at the so-called Forgotten Forty value picks list from Boylar Value Group that includes stocks trading at a discount to their potential value, with a positive company-specific catalyst likely to play out in the year ahead. “If a stock is selling at a significant discount to what we calculate an acquirer would pay for the business, and has a catalyst for capital appreciation, that’s very interesting to us,” noted Jon Boyar on candidates for the Forgotten Forty list. Stocks making the cut for 2023 included Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH), Liberty Braves Group (BATRK), Markel (MKL), Uber Technologies (UBER), Walt Disney (DIS), and Watsco (WSO). The publication also broke down some of the more interesting income investing ideas for 2023. Energy pipeline stocks were called out including Williams Companies (WMB), Kinder Morgan (KMI), Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), and Energy Transfer Energy Transfer LP. Telecom stocks AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) were also mentioned as top income investing ideas.
Sources: EDGAR, Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters
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