Oracle, Adobe, Kroger, General Motors, and Other Stocks for Investors to Watch This Week
It’s another quiet week on the earnings front. Oracle on Tuesday, Lennar on Wednesday, and Adobe and Kroger on Thursday make up the notable reports over the coming days.
Several other companies will speak with investors this week. Activision Blizzard and General Motors host their annual shareholder meetings on Monday, followed by Humana’s investor day on Tuesday and events by DXC Technology and NRG Energy on Thursday.
The main event on the economic calendar this week will be the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting committee’s June meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. The committee’s monetary-policy decision and a post-meeting press conference with Chairman Jerome Powell will be the focus of attention on Wednesday afternoon. Talk of inflation and bond-purchase tapering will be on the agenda.
Data out this week include the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index for May and the Census Bureau’s retail-sales data for May, both on Tuesday, followed by the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index for May on Thursday. There will also be data on the U.S. housing market out on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Monday 6/14
Roche Holding presents data on its spinal muscular atrophy drug, Evrysdi, at the 2021 CureSMA annual meeting.
Activision Blizzard and General Motors hold their annual shareholder meetings.
Tuesday 6/15
Oracle announces fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 results.
Humana hosts its biennial investor day virtually.
The National Association of Home Builders releases its Housing Market Index for June. Economists forecast an 83 reading, matching the May figure. Home builders remain very bullish on the housing market but are concerned about the availability and cost of building materials.
The Census Bureau reports retail-sales data for May. Expectations are for a 0.5% month-over-month decline, following a flat April. Excluding autos, spending is seen rising 0.6%, compared with a 0.8% decrease previously.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the producer price index for May. Consensus estimate is for a 0.4% monthly increase, with the core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, expected to rise 0.4% as well. This compares with gains of 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively, in April.
Wednesday 6/16
The FOMC announces its monetary-policy decision. With the federal-funds rate all but certain to remain near zero, Wall Street is looking for clues as to when the Federal Reserve might scale back its bond purchases.
Lennar reports quarterly results.
The Census Bureau reports new residential construction data for May. The economists forecast a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.63 million housing starts, slightly higher than April’s data. Housing starts are just below their post-financial-crisis peak of 1.73 million from March.
Thursday 6/17
Adobe and Kroger hold conference calls to discuss earnings.
DXC Technology and NRG Energy hold their 2021 investor days.
The Conference Board releases its Leading Economic Index for May. The LEI is expected to rise 1.1% month over month to 114.5, after gaining 1.6% in April. The index has now surpassed its pre-Covid peak, set back in January of 2020. The Conference Board now projects 8% to 9% annualized gross-domestic-product growth for the second quarter, and 6.4% for the year.
The Department of Labor reports initial jobless claims for the week ending on June 15. Jobless claims this past week were 376,000, the lowest total since March of 2020.
Friday 6/18
The Bank of Japan announces its monetary-policy decision. The central bank is widely expected to keep its key interest rate at negative 0.1%. The BOJ recently updated its GDP forecast to 4% growth for fiscal 2021 and 2.4% for fiscal 2022.
Write to Nicholas Jasinski at [email protected]
