Stock markets in the US are likely to remain volatile during the coming week as investors focus their attention on the Fed’s interest rate policy amid speculation that the central bank could soon be tightened.
Federal Reserve officials in recent speeches have indicated that the bank could begin to slowly pare back their $120 billion a month in bond purchases as the economic recovery takes hold.
A similar message could emerge from their annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, scheduled to begin Thursday. The Fed chair Powell's speech is typically the highlight of the annual event, and various Fed chairs have used the Jackson Hole, Wyoming meeting to send important messages.
Aside from monetary policy direction, investors will also be watching earnings releases from some of the top US companies which are among the last to report in the current cycle. Here are three we're following:
1. Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM), which sells enterprise software and cloud-based services for customer relationship management to corporate clients, will be reporting its quarterly earnings on Wednesday, Aug. 25, after the market closes.The software provider is forecast to report $6.24 billion in revenue and $0.92 of earnings per share.
In May, the San-Francisco-based company gave an upbeat forecast, saying its annual profit would top analysts’ estimates, suggesting increased purchasing by companies emerging from the pandemic.
With many companies expecting at least some of their workers to remain remote, and tasks like sales calls to continue over teleconferencing technology, Salesforce clients are speeding up a move to modernize software.
This favorable growth environment comes as Salesforce further cemented its position by acquiring Tableau in 2019 and MuleSoft in the previous year. Salesforce is in the process of buying Slack Technologies for $27.7 billion, an acquisition designed to fuel sales growth of more than 25% a year.
During the past quarter, Salesforce stock has gained about 16%, outperforming the tech-heavy NASDAQ Index. It closed on Friday at $256.13.
2. Best Buy
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), the big-box electronics and technology chain with stores throughout the US and Canada, will release Q2 earnings on Tuesday, Aug. 24 before the market opens. The retailer is expected to report $1.89 per share profit and $11.49 billion in revenue, according to analyst consensus.
Shares of BBY have remained under pressure during the past quarter on concerns as to whether the retailer can sustain the degree of growth witnessed during the pandemic as the US economy reopens after a year of lockdowns.
Although demand for its goods remains above normal, “there is a high level of uncertainty related to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that makes it difficult to predict how sustainable these trends will be,” Chief Financial Officer Matt Bilunas told investors this year.
Best Buy stock, which fell about 2% during the past quarter, closed on Friday at $112.63.
3. Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) will release its fiscal Q2 2022 results on Thursday, Aug. 26, after the close. Analysts expect $2.03 EPS on more than $25.54 billion in revenue.
The Round Rock, Texas-based provider of IT products and services has benefited from strong demand for personal computers from workers and students sheltering at home during the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, however, sales from corporate clients have suffered because of the virus-triggered recession.
Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell is trying to reduce the reliance of his eponymous company on one-time hardware sales. Rather, he's aiming to transform it into a seller of subscription-based computer services.
Right now, DELL still gets about half of its revenue from PC purchases by companies and consumers. Shares of Dell have gained 36% this year, closing on Friday at $98.50.