Market watchers this week will likely be eager for Thursday’s release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index—the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of price changes—as Fed officials seek more evidence that inflation is easing. Following the release, several Fed officials will make public remarks, giving investors their impressions of the inflation report and other economic data.
A number of companies will also report earnings, including Workday (WDAY), Lowe’s (LOW), Salesforce (CRM), Paramount Global (PARA), Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (BUD), and Dell Technologies (DELL). Investors can expect updates on the housing market and consumer confidence data as well.
Monday, Feb. 26
- New home sales (January)
- Workday (WDAY), Zoom Video Communications (ZOOM), Domino’s Pizza (DPZ), and Unity Software (U) report earnings
Tuesday, Feb. 27
- Durable-goods orders (January)
- S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index (January)
- Consumer confidence (February)
- Lowe’s (LOW), ONEOK (OKE), Bank of Montreal (BMO), American Tower (AMT), and AutoZone (AZO) report earnings
Wednesday, Feb. 28
- U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) (Q4 first revision)
- U.S. trade balance (January)
- Retail inventories (January)
- Wholesale inventories (January)
- Salesforce (CRM), Snowflake (SNOW), Royal Bank of Canada (RY), HP (HPQ), TJX (TJX), Paramount Global (PARA), and Monster Beverage Corp. (MNST) report earnings
Thursday, Feb. 29
- Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index (January)
- Initial jobless claims (Week ending Feb. 24)
- Pending home sales (January)
- Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester deliver remarks
- Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), Dell Technologies (DELL), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), and Best Buy (BBY) report earnings
Friday, March 1
- Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, Federal Reserve Board Gov. Christopher Waller, Atlanta Fed President Bostic and San Francisco Fed President Mary C. Daly deliver remarks
- RadNet (RDNT), Plug Power (PLUG), and FuboTV (FUBO) report earnings
Fed’s Preferred Inflation Measure Comes With Officials Set to Give Remarks
After several Fed officials last week said they wanted to see more evidence that inflation was on a downward path, Thursday’s release of the PCE Price Index will provide a key update. Deutsche Bank economists project that core PCE inflation will rise 0.36% in January, accelerating from its December reading.
Fed officials have said they were happy with the slowing of inflation over the past six months, even though the most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed that inflation was declining more slowly than anticipated, damping hopes that the Fed would begin to cut rates in March.
Investors won’t have to wait long to learn what some Fed officials think of Thursday’s inflation report, with Federal Reserve Board Gov. Waller, Dallas Fed President Logan, Atlanta Fed President Bostic, San Francisco Fed President Daly, Chicago Fed President Goolsbee and Cleveland Fed President Mester all scheduled to deliver remarks at events on Thursday and Friday.
Workday, Salesforce, Paramount and More Report Earnings
This week several tech firms will show whether booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) can keep propping up balance sheets. Retailers and Canadian financial firms will also be among those releasing their latest results.
On Monday, enterprise cloud provider Workday could again beat analysts’ estimates on the strength of its AI product offerings. Salesforce’s earnings report on Wednesday will show whether the cloud software provider can continue to capitalize on its AI offerings.
Another provider of cloud-based services, Snowflake (SNOW), will look to maintain momentum after it pushed product revenue higher by 34% in its most recent report. Earnings from video conferencing provider Zoom (ZOOM) on Monday will provide insights on how well the company is navigating changing work-from-home trends.
When Paramount Global reports, investors will likely be looking for updates on potential buyers for the studio and streaming service, which last quarter added 2.7 million subscribers.
Hardware retailer Lowe’s will report on Tuesday after it lowered its outlook last quarter as consumers pulled back spending on home improvement projects. The earnings report for TJX (TJX) on Wednesday will show whether the operator of “off-price” department stores like T.J. Maxx and Marshalls can continue to drive up its same-store sales.
On Thursday, earnings from Dell will show whether there has been any recovery in the PC market, and if the computer maker is still using AI to drive server and networking sales. Also on Thursday, Best Buy’s (BBY) report will show whether consumer spending on PCs and other high-tech devices will continue to decline.
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s report on Thursday will show whether the alcoholic beverage giant is showing recovery from a drop in U.S. sales volume from customer boycotts.
An update on the health of the Canadian financial services sector will also come with the Bank of Montreal (BMO), Royal Bank of Canada (RY), and TD Bank (TD) among the companies set to report.
