What to Expect in the Week Ahead (XPEV, MU and PDD Earnings; FOMC Interest-Rate Decision)
This week sees a reduced slate of earnings reports, with the focus turning to the Federal Reserve meeting.
Monday will see $Bit Digital(BTBT.US$ set the tone for the week, followed by announcements from $XPeng(XPEV.US$ and $TeraWulf(WULF.US$ on Tuesday. Wednesday's lineup features $PDD Holdings(PDD.US$, $Micron Technology(MU.US$, and $BioNTech(BNTX.US$, while Thursday's roster includes $Accenture(ACN.US$, $Nike(NKE.US$, $Lululemon Athletica(LULU.US$, and $FactSet Research Systems(FDS.US$.
In terms of economic data, the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Wednesday is highly anticipated, and the PMI to be released on Thursday also warrants attention.
XPeng Earnings Preview
The next earnings report is due on March 19, with forecasts suggesting a 134% YoY increase in Q4 revenue to $1.75 billion, attributed to the lifting of China's zero-COVID policy. However, adjusted EPS is predicted to drop from -$0.37 to -$0.42, indicating potential issues with the business model despite the surge in revenue.
In Q4 2023 $XPeng(XPEV.US$ delivered a total of 60 thousand vehicles, which indicates a 171% YoY growth. Therefore, surpassing a projected by consensus 134% YoY revenue growth looks doable.
However, JPMorgan dropped their target price on shares of XPeng from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on February 23rd.
Micron Technology Earnings Preview
$Micron Technology(MU.US$ is scheduled to release its fiscal Q2 2024 earnings after Wednesday's closing bell. Forecasts suggest rising DRAM revenue may help reduce losses, and further information is anticipated regarding its production of AI GPU chips for Nvidia (NVDA).
Visible Alpha's analysis suggests that Micron is expected to report a Q2 fiscal 2024 revenue of $5.33 billion, reflecting a rise from both the preceding quarter and the comparable quarter in 2023.
The company is also forecasted to see a smaller loss of $275.81 million, or 26 cents per share, which is a significant improvement from the previous year's $2.08 billion, or $1.91 per share loss. These projections are in line with Micron's own guidance for the quarter.
PDD Earnings Preview
According to Yahoo Finance, the company is scheduled to release its earnings on March 20, 2024, with expectations of an EPS at $1.62, up 33.88% from the same quarter last year. Revenue is forecasted at $11.99 billion, representing a 107.61% growth year-over-year.
Jefferies analysts have elevated $PDD Holdings(PDD.US$'s rating to "buy" from "hold," increasing the price target from $117 to $157 last week. The upgrade is based on their belief that geopolitical risk factors are already reflected in the price, and PDD's subsidiary, Temu, continues to expand its market share both domestically and internationally.
FOMC Interest-Rate Decision in Focus
The CME FedWatch Tool indicates there is more than a 95% probability that the Federal Reserve will maintain current interest rates in its March session. Additionally, the Fed remains steadfast in its commitment to a 2% inflation target before considering reductions in the federal funds rate.
In his March 7 testimony to Congress on the semiannual monetary policy report, Chair Jerome Powell stated, "The Committee anticipates that it will not be appropriate to alter the target range for the federal funds rate until more confidence is secured that inflation is on a consistent path back to 2%."
Speculation centers on whether the Fed will opt for a rate decrease in June, in line with current bond market expectations, and the number of reductions anticipated for 2024. The Fed's dot plots, which graphically represent each official's projections for the economy and interest rates and are updated quarterly, could shed light on potential rate cut timings and magnitudes. While three rate cuts were the median prediction in December, the Fed might scale this down to two due to a robust economy and persistent inflation, indicating to investors that elevated rates may prevail for an extended period.
March PMI Expected to Show Slower Growth
The March PMI survey is expected to signal a slight slowdown in the manufacturing sector's growth, after the strongest expansion since July 2022 was recorded in February. Additionally, the service sector's pace of expansion is seen decelerating slightly for a 2nd month.
Sectors Performance
Source: Dow Jones, Investopedia, Seeking Alpha, Finviz, Yahoo Finance
Disclaimer: Moomoo Technologies Inc. is providing this content for information and educational use only.
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BelleWeather : The issues with TT concern me for PDD. I really liked that company but sold last week for 100+% gain.
Chiu fong Ko : Jeffries upgraded 157 but Goldman S downgraded 136 lol difficult to see china stock
BelleWeather Chiu fong Ko: Yes, I was burned by accounting fraud with Chinese companies when I first started investing in earnest. So no matter how cheap a Chinese company looks, I’m not interested now. And of course all the political risk with both governments. I’d liked PDD for a big data play - that’s how they make money. And yeah, ignore buy (and sell) side analysts - they are trying to manipulate price for their own benefit and many of them have awful track records, like average gain -26 with 12% accuracy is at best a contrarian indicator!
Chiu fong Ko BelleWeather: Also Chinese government issued ( you can rich but you can’t super rich )check a look Jack Ma lol
BelleWeather Chiu fong Ko: Yes, that is definitely part of the political risk in country! And they seem to be cutting BDY at the knees recently.
73415907 :
71731595 : An event for NVDA is to be held, any longer these events change markets as much as other events noted!