Micron Technology, Nike Lead Companies That Report As Earnings Season Continues To Slow

Summary:

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Investors will be looking to the Federal Reserve’s final meeting of the year, where it is widely expected to make another 25 basis-point rate cut and release its last Summary of Economic Projects for 2024 on Wednesday. They will also be looking for the retail sales print for November on Tuesday and the third estimate of Q3 GDP. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment measure will be released Friday. Meanwhile, the European Union’s core consumer price index for last month is due for release on Wednesday, according to Investing.com. November’s core CPI is expected to show a 2.8% Y/Y gain, up from a 2.7% advance in October.

The earnings season wind down continues, with the number of releases coming to a trickle. The big names scheduled to report include Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), FedEx (NYSE:FDX), Nike (NKE), General Mills (NYSE:GIS), and Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS).

Earnings spotlight: Tuesday, December 17 – Heico (NYSE:HEI), Amentum Holdings (NYSE:AMTM), and Worthington Enterprises (NYSE:WOR). See the full earnings calendar.

Earnings spotlight: Wednesday, December 18 – Micron Technology (MU), Lennar (NYSE:LEN), General Mills (GIS), Jabil (NYSE:JBL), and Toro (NYSE:TTC). See the full earnings calendar.

Earnings spotlight: Thursday, December 19 – Accenture (NYSE:ACN), Nike (NKE), Cintas (CTAS), FedEx (FDX) and Paychex. (NASDAQ:PAYX). See the full earnings calendar.

Earnings spotlight: Friday, December 20 – Winnebago (NYSE:WGO). See the full earnings calendar.

Volatility Watch: Vale (NYSE:VALE) and Canoo (NASDAQ:GOEV) head the list of stocks showing high implied volatility based on options trading. The most overbought stocks per their 14-day relative strength index include Colombier Acquisition Corp. II (CLBR), BTQ Technologies Corp (OTCQX:BTQQF), and RealReal (NASDAQ:REAL). The most oversold stocks per their 14-day Relative Strength Index include Imperial Petroleum (NASDAQ:IMPP), Cellectar Biosciences (NASDAQ:CLRB), and Applied Therapeutics (NASDAQ:APLT). Short interest is elevated in FuelCell Energy (FCEL) and Lemonade (NYSE:LMND).

IPO Watch: The lockup for Rectitude (NASDAQ:RECT) is expiring on Wednesday.

Dividend Watch: Companies that have an ex-dividend coming next week include Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), American International Group (NYSE:AIG), and Ecolab (NYSE:ECL). Companies expected to increase their quarterly dividends include ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS), from $0.30 to $0.33, Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT)(NASDAQ:FULTP), from $0.17 to $0.18, and Mosaic (NYSE:MOS), from $0.21 to $0.22. Read through some of the dividend stock picks from Seeking Alpha analysts.

Investor Events: No major events scheduled.

Micron Technology earnings preview: Micron Technology reports its latest results on Wednesday. The memory and storage company is expected to post per-share earnings of $1.77 on revenue of $8.71B. Analysts will be focused on the company’s remarks about its ramp of HBM3E, Wells Fargo said in a note earlier this week. “We expect increasing confidence in MU’s drive toward an [around] 20%+ share in CY25 with HBM [total addressable market] estimate at $25B+ (around 6% of industry bit demand); multiple-billions of revenue, although upside could be limited given MU’s supply is sold out for CY25 (fixed volume + pricing LTAs),” the note said. Wells Fargo said the momentum in Micron’s HBM and “traditional server demand driving increasing DDR5 adoption should result in continued record data center contribution in FY25.” The firm added that recent filings by Micron shows data center and networking end markets made up around 35% of the company’s revenue in FY25, up 25% from the year before.

Nike earnings preview: Nike reports earnings on Thursday. The athletic apparel giant is expected to post EPS of $0.64 on revenue of $12.17B for its fiscal Q2. The focus on the earnings call will be on new Chief Executive Elliott Hill and the changes he has made since returning to the post in mid-October, Barclays said earlier this week. “On this call, investors and analysts will be introduced to the style of management, priorities, key immediate changes, and whether Mr. Hill has the right senior-level team to execute the foundational steps to turn around the business,” the firm said in a note. Barclays added it believes “having the right style of CEO to be the single most important factor in a multiyear, compounding investment thesis.” The worst of Nike’s margin and earnings reductions is over, analysts Adrienne Yih and Paul Kearney said, but they may be “stagnate” until there is a turnaround. “We believe that NKE’s issues are not short-horizons fixes, and we could see a couple of years or reset/transformation,” they said. Barclays said it lowered its adjusted EPS for 2025, 2026, and 2027 to $2.59, $3.16, and $3.38 from $2.70, $3.36, and $3.50, respectively. The firm trimmed its price target on Nike to $79 from $81.

Editor’s Note: This article covers one or more microcap stocks. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.

Editor’s Note: This article discusses one or more securities that do not trade on a major U.S. exchange. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.

Editor’s Note: This article discusses one or more securities that do not trade on a major U.S. exchange. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.