Best Buy, Deere, Dell Technologies, Gap, and Other Stocks for Investors to Watch This Week
It’s a holiday-shortened week in the U.S., with stock and bond markets closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving Day and only a half day of trading on Friday. Earnings releases this week start with Agilent Technologies on Monday, then a busy Tuesday: Analog Devices, Best Buy, Dell Technologies, Dollar Tree, Gap, HP Inc., and VMware all report. Deere adds its results on Wednesday.
The economic-data highlights this week include IHS Markit’s Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers’ Indices for November on Monday. Both are seen slipping slightly from October. On Tuesday, the Conference Board releases its Consumer Confidence Index for November, which is also expected to show a decline from a month earlier.
Wednesday will feature several notable releases. The Federal Open Market Committee publishes minutes from its November meeting and the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports its second estimate for third-quarter GDP.
Also Wednesday, the BEA reports personal income and spending for October, which are both forecast to rise, but at a slower pace than in recent months. Finally, the Census Bureau releases the October Durable Goods report—a decent proxy for business investment—on Wednesday, which economists expect to have climbed 1.5% from September.
Monday 11/23
Agilent Technologies reports fourth-quarter fiscal-2020 earnings.
IHS Markit releases its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers’ Indices for November. Consensus estimates are for a 53 Manufacturing PMI and 56.5 for the Services PMI. Both estimates are slightly lower than the October data.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago releases its National Activity Index for October. Economists forecast a 0.23 reading, roughly even with the September figure. Since peaking at an all-time high of 5.93 in June, the index has steadily fallen, suggesting that the economy will continue to grow but at a slower pace.
Tuesday 11/24
Analog Devices, Autodesk, Best Buy, Burlington Stores, Dell Technologies, Dollar Tree, Gap, Hormel Foods, HP Inc., J.M. Smucker, Jacobs Engineering Group, Medtronic, and VMware report quarterly results.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency releases its House Price Index for September and the third quarter. In August, home prices rose 8% year over year, according to the FHFA. The strongest gains were out West in states like Arizona and Idaho.
The Conference Board releases its Consumer Confidence Index for November. Expectations are for a 98 reading, down from 100.9 in October.
Wednesday 11/25
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports its second estimate for third-quarter GDP. Economists forecast a 33.1% seasonally adjusted annual growth rate, a record high.
Deere hosts a conference call to discuss earnings.
The Federal Open Market Committee releases minutes for its early-November monetary-policy meeting.
The Census Bureau reports new single-family home sales for October. Economists forecast a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 972,500 homes sold, up from 959,000 in September. New-home sales continue to hover near their post-financial-crisis peak.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports personal income and spending for October. Expectations are for a 0.4% month-over-month gain in income; spending is seen rising 0.8%. This compares with increases of 0.9% and 1.4%, respectively, in September.
The Census Bureau releases the Durable Goods report for October. Consensus estimate is for a 1.5% month-over-month jump to $240.7 billion in new orders for manufactured goods.
Thursday 11/26
U.S. equity and fixed-income markets are closed for Thanksgiving Day.
Friday 11/27
The Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange close early at 1 p.m. EST, while the bond market closes at 2 p.m.
It’s Black Friday, the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.
Write to Nicholas Jasinski at [email protected]
