Welcome to Seeking Alpha’s Stocks to Watch – a preview of key events scheduled for the next week. Follow this account and turn the e-mail alert on to receive this article in your inbox every Saturday morning. A podcast of Stocks to Watch is also available on Sundays on Seeking Alpha, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify (click the highlighted links).
The tech sector will be in focus again in the week ahead as investors gauge if short-term pandemic plays like Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) Palo Alto Networks (NYSE:PANW), Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT), Zoom Video (NASDAQ:ZM) and DocuSign (NASDAQ:DOCU) are good for the longer haul and if tech heavyweights such as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) go back to their old tricks. Economic reports of note during the week will include the JOLTS survey on September 9 and another jobless claims update on September 10, as well as the federal budget update and inflation data pouring in on September 11. Traders looking for a little jolt this week of a different kind have the exercise pair trade to consider, with Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ:PTON) reporting earnings to high expectations and Planet Fitness (NYSE:PLNT) firing off a national marketing campaign in a bid to revive memberships. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will look to regroup after being left out of the S&P 500 Index party. Then there is GameStop (NYSE:GME), which cruises into earnings day with short interest at over 100% of total float. Sounds like something has to give there.
Earnings spotlight: Casey’s General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY), Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) and Slack (NYSE:WORK) on September 8; Navistar (NYSE:NAV), American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO), BigCommerce (NASDAQ:BIGC) and GameStop (GME) on September 9; Peloton Interactive (PTON) and Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) on September 10 and Kroger (NYSE:KR) on September 11.
Go deeper: See Seeking Alpha’s Catalyst Watch foe earnings plays
Projected dividend changes (quarterly): Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) is expected to bump up its payout rate to $1.20 from $1.17. As it stands now, Philip Morris’ dividend yield of 5.90% ranks 23rd highest in the S&P 500 Index.
Sports betting: The sports calendar ratchets up with the Kentucky Derby being run today at Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) without fans and the NFL opener set for September 10, while the NHL and NBA playoffs will continue. Sports betting has already been in the spotlight without sports running at full tilt as DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) continues to make big news and Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN) preps to release its Barstool app. Of note, the Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF (NYSEARCA:BETZ) recently surpassed $100M in assets under management. The ETF operator notes that the milestone comes less than three months since the fund’s initial launch highlighting strong investor demand for the product. Top holdings include Australia-traded Pointsbet, William Hill (OTCPK:WIMHY), Kindred Group, Flutter Entertainment (OTCPK:PDYPY), Penn National Gaming, Churchill Downs, Scientific Games (NASDAQ:SGMS) and DraftKings (DKNG). The ETF is up more than 30% since inception.
Stock pitching: The 3rd Annual Next Wave Sohn Hong Kong event will give the next generation of younger emerging managers a forum to present their investment ideas in the same format as the well-known main Sohn event. Up and comers from Hel Ved Capital Management Limited, Dimension Management, Apeiron Capital and Panview Capital will make stock pitches. Keep an eye on Seeking Alpha’s News feed for any interesting pitches.
IPO watch: No pricings are scheduled for the holiday-shortened week even though there are a lot of deals in the hopper. Quiet periods expire on KE (NYSE:BEKE), Netstreit (NYSE:NTST), Duck Creek (NASDAQ:DCT), CureVac (NASDAQ:CVAC), Kubient (NASDAQ:KBNT) and Flux Power(NASDAQ:FLUX) on September 8. There is also a share lockup expiration on Imara (NASDAQ:IMRA) to keep an eye on. Go deeper: Catch up on all the latest IPO news.
M&A tidbits: Volkswagen (OTCPK:VWAGY) is expected to resume its pursuit of acquiring Navistar (NAV) and merging it with Traton. There could also be some further reporting on the Blackstone/GIP pursuit of Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU).
Investor meetings and business updates: Equifax (NYSE:EFX) will host a conference call on September 8, with top execs set to discuss market and business revenue trends. Honeywell (NYSE:HON) has the second installment of its live leadership webcast series for investors set for September 8 with Wolfe Research. Also stepping out in front of the mike will be IDEAYA Biosciences (NASDAQ:IDYA) at the JP Morgan CEO Series Fireside Chat series on September 8 and Sony (NYSE:SNE) CEO Kenichiro Yoshida at the company’s ESG/Technology Briefing on September 10. NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) and Evercore ISI will co-host a conference call on September 10 for the investor and analyst community to provide an in-depth update and Q&A session on NXP’s innovative automotive battery management systems for electric vehicles. There is also Sage Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SAGE) with a Sage FutureCast: An R&D and Portfolio Review on September 10 to discuss the company’s research & development strategy and review clinical progress in programs throughout the depression, neurology and neuropsychiatric franchises. Finally, SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) will hold a Capital Markets Day event on September 10.
Lucid thinking: Lucid Motors will unveil its first all-electric sedan at a splashy event scheduled for September 9. The Lucid Air EV is reported by the company to bolt from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds and have a top speed of 200 mph. The 1,080 horsepower, dual-motor engine configuration is said to help the car sprint a quarter-mile in 9.9 seconds on a consistent, repeatable basis. That mark is faster than a Tesla Model S and most production cars on the market. Lucid opened pre-orders in Europe at the start of the year.
Healthcare watch: Aeterna Zentaris (NASDAQ:AEZS) will present data on Macimorelin acetate at the European Congress of Endocrinology conference that runs from September 5-9. The European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis conference running from September 9-12 will include a presentation by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) on ponesimod vs. teriflunomide in relapsing MS, a lineup of abstracts from Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY) and new data from Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) on ATA188. The FDA action date for Mallinckrodt’s (NYSE:MNK) terlipressin NDA for the treatment of hepatorenal syndrome type 1 is September 12. Investors should expect an FDA announcement on MNK on September 11. Meanwhile, the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Annual Meeting that begins on September 11 will include Ipsen (OTCPK:IPSEY) presenting Phase 3 data on palovarotene in fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. Go deeper: Check out Seeking Alpha’s Catalyst Watch for breakdowns on the events that stand out.
Consumer staples in focus: One of the bigger consumer staples events of the year runs from September 8-10 next week as the virtual version of the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference plays out. The timing is interesting with staples outperforming the broad market over the last two days in a bit of a sector rotation out of tech. Headliners of the Barclays event include Walmart (NYSE:WMT) CFO Brett Biggs and Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) COO/CFO Jon Moeller. Other companies due to present include Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM), J.M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Hormel (NYSE:HRL), Hain Celestial (NASDAQ:HAIN), Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL), Freshpet (NASDAQ:FRPT), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL), Dollar General (NYSE:DG), Kellogg (NYSE:K), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN), Clorox (NYSE:CLX), Sysco (NYSE:SYY), Molson Coors (NYSE:TAP), Clorox (CLX), Freshpet (FRPT), Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ), Reynolds Consumer Products (NASDAQ:REYN), Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD), Philip Morris International (PM), Keurig Dr Pepper (NYSE:KDP) and more. The Consumer Staples Select SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLP) is up about 9.4% over the last six months.
D.A. Davidson Software and Internet Services Conference: The virtual version of the annual conference will feature interesting presentations up and down the tech sector. Some of the companies due to post updates include Tenable Holdings (NASDAQ:TENB), Dropbox (NASDAQ:DBX), Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM), Zoom Video (ZM), NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR), Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO), Cloudera (NYSE:CLDR), SailPoint Technologies (NYSE:SAIL), Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD), DocuSign (DOCU), Glu Mobile (NASDAQ:GLUU), Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), Cars.com (NYSE:CARS), Zillow (NASDAQ:ZG), Redfin (NASDAQ:RDFN), CyberArk Software (NASDAQ:CYBR), ChannelAdvisor (NYSE:ECOM), J2 Global (NASDAQ:JCOM), Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS), CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG), Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) and Guidewire Software (NYSE:GWRE).
The Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Virtual Insurance Conference: An interesting angle heading into the conference running from September 9-11 will be the color from P&C insurers on how COVID-19 claims/suits will shake out. Even though typical policies specifically say they don’t cover pandemics, there are expected to be hundreds of lawsuits over business interruption coverage. Presenters include Marsh & McLennan & Companies (NYSE:MMC), Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC), W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB), American International Group (NYSE:AIG), Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. (NYSE:TPRE), Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB), Cincinnati Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CINF), Aflac (NYSE:AFL), Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA), FBL Financial Group (NYSE:FFG), MetLife (NYSE:MET), American Equity Investment Life (NYSE:AEL), AON (NYSE:AON), Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG), Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU), Alleghany Corporation (NYSE:Y), Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI), Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH), Palomar Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PLMR), Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE:ORI), Tiptree (NASDAQ:TIPT), BRP Group BRP).
Other conferences: Some of the expected highlights from the Baird Global Healthcare Conference on September 9-10 include a fireside chat with LabCorp (NYSE:LH) execs, a presentation by Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) CEO Paul Kusserow and an update from Tenet Healthcare (NYSE:THC). A huge roster of healthcare companies is due to present at the Wells Fargo Global Healthcare Conference on September 9-10. Potential standouts include Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A), Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), Evolent Health (NYSE:EVH), Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HALO), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC). The Cowen 2020 Global Transportation & Sustainable Mobility Conference running from September 9-11 will include presentations from J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC). The g.research 26th Annual Aerospace & Defense Virtual Conference will feature presentations from CEOs from Textron (NYSE:TXT), Kaman (NYSE:KAMN), Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE:AJRD) and Kratos (NASDAQ:KTOS) among others. A few other presentations to watch are Macy’s (NYSE:M), Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK), Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) and Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) all giving talks at the Goldman Sachs Retailing Conference on September 9.Go deeper: See Seeking Alpha’s Catalyst Watch for which presentations may stand out.
Barron’s mentions: The publication thinks bank stocks could rally after strict loan-loss reserve rules are loosened when the economy improves. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) are called three good bets on the profit rebound. Warren Buffett’s huge bet on Japan draws some notice. Investors can ride with the Oracle’s Japan value play through ETFs like iShares MSCI Japan (NYSEARCA:EWJ) and WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity (NYSEARCA:DXJ) or by investing in Japanese heavyweights like Toyota (NYSE:TM), Sony (SNE) and Nintendo (OTCPK:NTDOY). Baillie Gifford International Alpha 2 fund co-manager Jenny Davis says MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) still has huge upside potential to grow in Latin America.
Sources: EDGAR, Bloomberg, CNBC, The Verge, Reuters
Editor’s Note: This article covers one or more microcap stocks. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.