Week Ahead on Wall Street: Keeping With Tradition

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Now that the big banks have officially cut the ribbon on first-quarter earnings season, Wall Street is preparing for a barrage of corporate scorecards.

At a Glance

• The news: The earnings calendar broadens this week, with an array of companies across consumer goods, industrials, and transportation stepping up to the plate.
• The context: The ongoing war in Iran has triggered a major oil shock, sending fuel and energy costs soaring.
• Your move: Keep a close eye on corporate profit margins. Investors want to know if companies are successfully absorbing these higher energy costs or if they are being forced to pass them onto an already price-fatigued consumer.

Last week, financial titans gave us a 30,000-foot view of the economy. Now, it’s time to get a little more into the weeds. While investors are undoubtedly eager to hear from Big Tech, those highly anticipated reports don’t start rolling in until next week. This week, the spotlight shifts to the companies that make up the day-to-day machinery of the economy — think airlines, consumer staples, and heavy manufacturing.

It comes at a good time, as the geopolitical shockwaves from the war in Iran can no longer be ignored. The conflict has sent oil prices soaring, creating an energy shock even more severe than when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Although the effects are still rippling across global supply chains, there are already signs that it has gotten more expensive to manufacture a product, put it on a truck, or fly it across the country.

So, what is corporate America seeing? Have input costs spiked? And if so, do they intend to eat the higher costs, or will they try passing them onto consumers? (Would they even be able to do that or would consumers revolt?) 

The traditional economy might not be as glamorous as artificial intelligence, but it might very well be where the impact of the macro backdrop is felt the most. 

On the Docket

Monday

• Earnings: Steel Dynamics (STLD)

Tuesday

• April Philadelphia Fed Non-Manufacturing Activity: The Philadelphia Fed’s survey of services executives in the region on business conditions and their outlook. 
• March Retail Sales: This measures spending at retail stores and is a key indicator of consumer demand.
• Earnings: Chubb (CB), Capital One Financial (COF), Quest Diagnostics (DGX), DR Horton (DHI), Danaher (DHR), Equifax (EFX), EQT (EQT), General Electric (GE), Genuine Parts (GPC), Halliburton (HAL), Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), 3M (MMM), MSCI (MSCI), Northrop Grumman (NOC), Northern Trust (NTRS), Raytheon Technologies (RTX), Synchrony Financial (SYF), Tractor Supply Company (TSCO), United Airlines (UAL), UnitedHealth Group (UNH), W R Berkley (WRB)

Wednesday

• Weekly Mortgage Applications: Mortgage activity gives insight on demand conditions in the housing market.
• Earnings: Boeing (BA), Boston Scientific (BSX), Crown Castle International (CCI), CME Group (CME), CSX (CSX), Elevance Health (ELV), GE Vernova (GEV), Globe Life (GL), International Business Machines (IBM), Kinder Morgan (KMI), Lam Research (LRCX), Southwest Airlines (LUV), Las Vegas Sands (LVS), Masco (MAS), Moody’s (MCO), ServiceNow (NOW), NVR (NVR), Otis Worldwide (OTIS), Packaging of America (PKG), Philip Morris International (PM), Raymond James Financial (RJF), Rollins (ROL), AT&T (T), Teledyne Technologies (TDY), TE Connectivity (TEL), Tesla (TSLA), Texas Instruments (TXN), United Rentals (URI), Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT), Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB)

Thursday

• March Chicago Fed National Activity Index: This is a monthly index put together that incorporates 85 indicators from four categories: production and income; employment, unemployment, and hours; personal consumption and housing; and sales, orders, and inventories. 
• April S&P Global US PMIs: These indexes track how purchasing managers across different industries feel about the business environment. 
• April Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Activity: The Kansas City Fed’s survey of manufacturing executives in the region on business conditions and their outlook.
• Earnings: Ameriprise Financial (AMP), American Express (AXP), Baker Hughes (BKR), Blackstone Group LP (BX), CBRE Group (CBRE), Comcast (CMCSA), CenterPoint Energy (CNP), Digital Realty Trust (DLR), Dover (DOV), Dow Inc (DOW), Erie Indemnity (ERIE), Edwards Lifesciences (EW), Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), Huntington Bancshares (HBAN), Hartford Financial Services Group (HIG), Honeywell International (HON), Intel (INTC), Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Nasdaq (NDAQ), NextEra Energy (NEE), Newmont Mining (NEM), PG&E (PCG), Principal Financial Group (PFG), PulteGroup (PHM), Pool (POOL), Roper Technologies (ROP), Snap-on (SNA), Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), Union Pacific (UNP), VeriSign (VRSN), West Pharmaceutical Services (WST)

Friday

• April University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment: How consumers feel about economic conditions affect their spending habits. This survey places a particular focus on inflation and its trajectory. 
• April Kansas City Fed Non-Manufacturing Activity: The Kansas City Fed’s survey of services executives in the region on business conditions and their outlook.
• Earnings: Charter Communications (CHTR), Fiserv (FISV), Comfort Systems USA (FIX), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Hasbro (HAS), HCA Healthcare (HCA), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Procter & Gamble (PG), Schlumberger (SLB)

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