Fourth-quarter earning season heats up this week, with 111 S&P 500 companies scheduled to release their results. Kimberly-Clark and Philips report on M onday, followed by a busy Tuesday: 3M, Advanced Micro Devices, American Express, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Starbucks, Texas Instruments, and Verizon Communications all report.
Wednesday is headlined by Apple, Tesla, Facebook, AT&T, and Boeing. Altria Group, American Airlines Group, Comcast, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Southwest Airlines, and Visa report on Thursday. Caterpillar, Chevron, and Honeywell International close the week on Friday.
The highlight on the week’s economic calendar will be the Federal Open Market Committee’s January meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Federal Reserve’s policy committee will announce its decision on Wednesday afternoon, followed by a press conference with chair Jerome Powell. The central bank isn’t expected to budge interest rates from near zero, but investors and Fed watchers will be listening closely for any color on when it may begin paring its bond purchasing program.
Economic data out this week includes the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence index for January on Tuesday, the Census Bureau’s durable goods report for December on Wednesday, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ personal income and spending data for December on Friday.
The BEA will also report its advance estimate for fourth-quarter gross domestic product on Thursday. The consensus estimate is for the economy to have grown at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.3% in the final three months of 2020.
Monday 1/25
Kimberly-Clark and Philips report quarterly results.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago releases its National Activity index for December. Consensus estimate is for a 0.10 reading, below December’s 0.27 figure. The recent data for the index suggest a slightly above-average growth rate for the economy after a powerful third-quarter rebound.
Tuesday 1/26
3M, Advanced Micro Devices, American Express, Capital One Financial, General Electric, Invesco, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Prologis, Raytheon Technologies, Starbucks, Texas Instruments, and Verizon Communications announce earnings.
The Conference Board releases its Consumer Confidence index for January. Economists forecast a 91.6 reading, three points more than in December. Consumer confidence remains well below prepandemic levels.
Wednesday 1/27
Half of the six largest U.S. companies by market cap report results. Apple, Facebook, and Tesla will also host calls to discuss their earnings after the market close.
Abbott Laboratories, Anthem, AT&T, Boeing, Crown Castle International, General Dynamics, Lam Research, Norfolk Southern, ServiceNow, and Stryker report quarterly results.
The Federal Open Market Committee announces its monetary-policy decision. The central bank is all but assured to keep the federal-funds rate unchanged at near zero. But Wall Street is interested to learn if and when the Fed will consider paring its bond purchases, currently at $120 billion a month.
The Census Bureau releases the durable goods report for December. New orders for manufactured durable goods are expected to rise 0.8% month over month to $246 billion.
Thursday 1/28
Altria Group, American Airlines Group, Comcast, Danaher, Dow, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Mondelez International, MSCI, Northrop Grumman, Southwest Airlines, T. Rowe Price Group, and Visa announce earnings.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports its advance estimate for fourth-quarter gross domestic product. Consensus estimate is for the economy to have grown at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.3%, after a record pace of 33.4% in the third quarter.
Friday 1/29
Caterpillar, Charter Communications, Chevron, Colgate-Palmolive, Eli Lilly, and Honeywell International host conference calls to discuss quarterly results.
The BEA reports personal income and spending data for December. Economists forecast both personal income and expenditures to tick down 0.1% month over month. In November, income fell 1.1%; spending declined 0.4%.
Write to Nicholas Jasinski at [email protected]
