Stocks To Watch Include Tesla, Zoom Video, PepsiCo, And Delta Air

Summary:

Get ahead of the market by subscribing to Seeking Alpha’s Stocks to Watch, a preview of key events scheduled for the coming week. The newsletter keeps you informed of the biggest stories set to make headlines, including upcoming IPOs, investor days, earnings reports and conference presentations.

The main economic data release out next week will be the September CPI report. Economists expect the core inflation rate to hold steady at +3.2% year-over-year, and to be up 0.3% on a month-over-month basis. The general expectation is that the CPI print will not be weak or strong enough to affect the size of the next cut. Investors will also have the producer price index report and the preliminary University of Michigan consumer survey for October to digest. As for the Federal Reserve calendar, the release of FOMC minutes from the September meeting and a full slate of Federal Reserve member speeches could give clues as to what to expect at the November FOMC meeting.

The event schedule for the week ahead is dominated by AI events for Nvidia (NVDA), AMD (AMD), and HP Enterprise (HPE). The Q3 earnings season will also kick off, with Delta Air Lines (DAL), PepsiCo (PEP), and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) some of the big names due to report.

The developments in the Middle East will be of high interest to oil traders once again.

Earnings spotlight: Monday, October 7 – Duckhorn Portfolio (NAPA). See the full earnings calendar.

Earnings spotlight: Tuesday, October 8 – PepsiCo (PEP) and Accolade (ACCD). See the full earnings calendar.

Earnings spotlight: Wednesday, October 9 – AZZ (AZZ), Applied Digital (APLD), and Helen of Troy (HELE). See the full earnings calendar.

Earnings spotlight: Thursday, October 10 – Delta Air Lines (DAL) and Domino’s Pizza (DPZ). See the full earnings calendar.

Earnings spotlight: Friday, October 11 – JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and BlackRock (BLK), BNY Mellon (BK), Fastenal (FAST). See the full earnings calendar.

Volatility watch: Options trading volume is elevated on Vertex Energy (VTNR) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). The most overbought stocks per their 14-day relative strength index include Fangdd (DUO), Capricor Therapeutics (CAPR), and SITE Centers (SITC). The most oversold stocks per their 14-day Relative Strength Index include Proficient Auto Logistics (PAL), enVVeno Medical (NVNO), and Gold Reserve (OTCQX:GDRZF). Short interest is elevated again on Beyond Meat (BYND) and Cassava Sciences (SAVA) ahead of the earnings season.

IPO watch: KinderCare Learning Companies (KLC) is expected to start trading next week. The company plans to sell 24 million shares in a price range of $24 to $27. At the midpoint of the range, KinderCare (KLC) would have a valuation of $2.95 billion. KinderCare (KLC) said it is the largest private provider of high-quality early childhood education in the United States by center capacity. In its SEC filing, the company noted that it serves children ranging from six weeks to 12 years of age across a market-leading footprint of over 1,500 early childhood education centers with capacity for over 200,000 children and approximately 900 before- and after-school sites located in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Between fiscal 2018 and June 29, 2024, KinderCare said it acquired 256 centers and opened 108 new greenfield centers. Other companies expected to have their IPO debuts next week include CVC-backed Moove Lubricants (MOOV) and civil engineering services provider SKK Holdings (SKK).

Dividend watch: Companies that have an ex-dividend date coming next week include Micron Technology (MU), Dollar General (DG), General Mills (GIS), and AT&T (T). Read through some of the dividend stock picks from Seeking Alpha analysts.

Investor events: The three-day Nvidia (NVDA) AI Summit will begin in Washington, DC. The company plans to hold sessions covering the role of AI with cybersecurity, edge computing, industrial digitalization, healthcare, quantum computing, and telecommunications. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will hold its Advancing AI 2024 event to showcase the next-generation AMD Instinct accelerators and 5th Gen AMD EPYC server processors. The company said it will also discuss networking and AI PC updates, in addition to highlighting its AI solutions ecosystem. Staying with the AI theme, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) will host its AI Day event. One of the biggest conferences of the year in the casino and gaming sector also takes place during the week as the Global Gaming Expo runs at the Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip. Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) CEO Peter Jackson and MGM Resorts (MGM) CEO Bill Hornbuckle will be keynote speakers. Zoom Video (NASDAQ:ZM) will hold its Zoomtopia Americas event, with CEO Eric Yuan and Smita Hashim scheduled to give keynote talks. Smartsheet’s (NYSE:SMAR) Engage Conference has been circled by analysts as potentially important.

Tesla robotaxi preview: Tesla will host a high-profile robotaxi event with the title “We, Robot” at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California on October 10. The event was originally scheduled for August 8 before Elon Musk said the company needed more time to make an important design change and to prepare to show off a few other things. The highlight of the event is likely to be the reveal of a Cybercab prototype, which is anticipated to be a two-door sedan with a front that is relatively similar to the Model 3. Elon Musk and his team could also deliver estimates on the size of the robotaxi market, a timeline for achieving unsupervised FSD, the potential for incremental AI-driven revenue, and other applications of the company’s growing robotic technology. Bank of America said expectations for the event have tempered due to the now delayed timing of a robotaxi fleet launch. Still, the firm sees the event as helpful for investors to understand the current capabilities of Tesla’s (TSLA) Full Self Driving technology. BofA also thinks the event will give a look at how the robotaxi business might operate and be structured, as well as provide updates on regulatory approvals in Europe, China and other countries. The firm does not expect a robotaxi service to be available until after 2025. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley warned that Tesla’s (TSLA) robotaxi event on October 10 could fail to live up to the high expectations of investors. Analyst Adam Jonas said that other than demonstrating FSD v12.5 and offering rides in a Gen 1 Cybercab, the firm is not sure what else could be in store. Jonas said questions that could be addressed include will investors see data comparing the safety of Tesla’s (TSLA) AV vehicle technology compared to human driving, and what are the specific critical enabling technologies to drive further improvement in FSD/cybercab autonomy? As far as moonshots, Jonas advised previously that Tesla (TSLA) could introduce an electric plane concept, electric boat vision, or a demonstration of an Optimus robot flipping burgers at a Tesla Diner. Read what Seeking Alpha analysts think about the robotaxi event.