Walmart, Alibaba, Target, and More Stocks to Watch This Week

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First-quarter earnings season continues this week with retailers making up a larger share of reports. Economic releases will include retail sales and housing-market data.

Home Depot

reports earnings on Tuesday, followed by a busy Wednesday:

Cisco Systems
,

Take-Two Interactive Software
,
Target, and

TJX

Cos. all report.

Walmart
,

Alibaba

Group Holding,

Applied Materials
,
and

Ross Stores

publish their results on Thursday, then

Deere

closes the week on Friday.

The economic-data highlight of the week will be the Census Bureau’s retail sales data for April on Tuesday. Consumer spending forecast to rise 0.7% from a month earlier, verus a decline of 0.6% in March.

Other data will include the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index for April on Thursday, and several indicators of the U.S. housing market: The National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index for May on Tuesday, the Census Bureau’s new residential construction data for April on Wednesday, and the National Association of Realtors’ existing-home sales for April on Thursday.

Monday 5/15

Jack Henry & Associates

and

Molina Healthcare

hold investor days.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York releases its Empire State Manufacturing Survey for May. Consensus estimate is for a reading of one, about 10 points less than in April. The index turned positive last month after four consecutive months in deeply negative territory.

Tuesday 5/16

Baidu, Home Depot,

Keysight Technologies
,
and

Vodafone Group

report quarterly results

ON Semiconductor,

PTC
,
and ServiceNow hosts investor meetings.

The National Association of Home Builders releases its Housing Market Index for May. Economists forecast a 45 reading, even with the April data. The index has rebounded sharply from December’s 31 reading, as home builders have turned cautiously optimistic, due in part to limited existing-home inventory. “Currently, one-third of housing inventory is new construction, compared with historical norms of a little more than 10%,” according to NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.

The Census Bureau reports retail sales data for April. Consumer spending is expected to increase 0.7% month over month, while sales excluding autos is seen rising 0.4%. This compares with declines of 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively, in March.

Wednesday 5/17

Cisco Systems,

Synopsys
,
Take-Two Interactive Software, Target, and TJX Cos. release earnings.

The Census Bureau reports new residential construction data for April. The consensus call is for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.4 million housing starts, 20,000 fewer than previously.

Thursday 5/18

Walmart reports first-quarter fiscal-2024 results. Analysts expect the company to earn $1.31 per share, a penny more than last year’s first quarter, on revenue of $148.6 billion, a 4.9% increase. The company’s stock is up 7.8% this year, roughly even with the broader market.

Alibaba Group Holding, Applied Materials, DXC Technology, and Ross Stores hold conference calls to discuss quarterly results.

The Conference Board releases its Leading Economic Index for April. Economists forecast the index to decline 0.5% month over month, following a 1.2% drop in March. The LEI is at its lowest level since November of 2020, and the think tank expects a recession starting in mid-2023.

The National Association of Realtors reports existing-home sales for April. Expectations are for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.3 million homes sold, slightly lower than in March. The median existing-home price was $375,700 in March, down 0.9% from a year prior, and the second consecutive annual decline.

Friday 5/19

Deere reports second-quarter fiscal-2023 earnings.