Stocks To Watch: Nvidia, Nike And Moderna On Center Stage

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A couple of crucial reads on China will arrive next week for investors to digest when Nike (NYSE:NKE) reports earnings on March 21 and Nio (NYSE:NIO) spills numbers on March 24. Both companies could disrupt their respective sector with the latest updates on supply and demand trends. The tech sector has Nvidia’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) annual GTC event to track, while Adidas (OTCQX:ADDYY) is holding an innovation event with competition heating up in the athletic apparel sector. The week winds down with Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) holding a vaccine update and an annual meeting at Huntman (NYSE:HUN) taking place with activists investors pushing for a board change.

Earnings spotlight: Monday, March 21 Nike (NKE) and Tencent Music Entertainment (NYSE:TME).

Earnings spotlight: Tuesday, March 22 Carnival (NYSE:CCL), Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) and Poshmark (POSH).

Earnings spotlight: Wednesday, March 23 General Mills (NYSE:GIS), Winnebago (WGO) and EVgo (NASDAQ:EVGO).

Earnings spotlight: Thursday, March 24 Darden Restaurants (DRI) and Nio (NIO).

Earnings spotlight: Friday, March 25 JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS).

IPO and SPAC watch: No IPOs are expected in the week ahead as the market stays rather dormant. There is a wave of IPO share lockup period expirations to track including Toast (NYSE:TOST) and a.k.a Brands (NYSE:AKA) on March 21; Freshworks (NASDAQ:FRSH), Remitly Global (RELY), EngageSmart (ESMT), Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER), Sovos Brands (SOVO) and Brilliant Earth Group (NASDAQ:BRLT) on March 22 and Clearwater Analytics (NYSE:CWAN) and Cue Health (HLTH) on March 23. In the SPAC world, shareholders with Tailwind Two Acquisition (TWNT) will vote on the deal to take satellite maker Terran Orbital public. The deal include a $50M PIPE from investors including AE Industrial Partners, Beach Point Capital, Daniel Staton and Lockheed Martin (LMT).

Projected dividend increases: Companies forecast to boost their quarterly dividend payouts include Worthington Industries (WOR) to $0.31 from $0.28, Oxford Industries (OXM) to $0.45 from $0.42 and Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) to $0.32 from $0.31.

Nvidia event: Nvidia’s (NVDA) GTC 2022 premiere event takes place between March 21-24. GTC will be watched closely across the tech sector, particularly the keynote address by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Key topics to be discussed include accelerated computing, deep learning, data science, digital twins, networking, quantum computing and computing in the data center, cloud and edge. The company also plans to talk about various technologies such as GPUs powered by current and next-generation architecture, as well as new software methodologies. The introduction of the company’s next-gen Hopper GH100 GPUs and new gaming products are seen as potential share price drivers. Looking further ahead, NVIDIA could highlight revenue-sharing opportunities with automakers as an enabler of OTA upgradeability and features, as well as outline the omniverse platform strategy and Grace CPU timeline. Analysts think NVDA’s presentations could raise investor expectations on the track for EPS approach $10 per share.

Nike earnings preview: Nike (NKE) heads into its earnings report with some analysts thinking many of the supply chain, inflation and labor headwinds are already priced into the share price. Wells Fargo expects a reiteration of guidance for mid single digits FY22 revenue growth, while Credit Suisse thinks that valuation on Nike in relation to peers can start to reset after FY23 numbers are de-risked. Morgan Stanley sees the commentary from Nike execs on supply and demand trends in China as the biggest wildcard with the report. Meanwhile, BTIG says it is too early to get constructive on Nike as it believes the company continues to work through supply chain issues and face demand constraints in China.

Corporate events: Adidas (OTCQX:ADDYY) will hold an Innovation Day event in Germany. The presentation will be just one day ahead of Lululemon (LULU) formally entering the footwear industry with its first-ever running shoe hitting the market. Lululemon’s shoe lineup will compete directly against Adidas, Nike (NKE) and New Balance. It is also a busy week of investor and analyst day events. RealReal (NASDAQ:REAL) and Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) hold events on March 22, while Petco Health and Wellness Company (WOOF), Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) and Wex (NYSE:WEX) are all set to present on March 23. Moderna’s (MRNA) virtual Vaccines Day for analysts and investors on March 24 will also be of high interest. Check out Seeking Alpha’s Catalyst watch for a full list of events next week that could impact share prices.

Conference schedule: The conference schedule includes the Goldman Sachs Chemical Intensity Days Conference, the Keybanc Virtual Healthcare Conference, the D.A. Davidson Inaugural EV & Energy Transition Virtual Conference, the Wolfe Research Software Conference, the Piper Sandler 22nd Annual Energy Conference and the Wolfe Research Software March Madness Conference.

Stock split: The 3-for-2 stock split for W.R. Berkley Corporation (WRB) becomes effective.

Annual meeting: Huntsman Corporation (HUN) will hold its annual meeting on March 25 with activist investor drama circling the company. Proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services recommended that shareholders elect two of Starboard Value’s two nominees, while Glass Lewis backed the company’s slate.

Barron’s mentions: The publications digs deep to find some inflation-proof stocks that could benefit as higher prices are passed on to consumers. The food industry is noted to be seeing strong demand trends and have an overall valuation level below the three-year trends. Stocks that could benefit from rising food costs include General Mills (GIS), Hershey (HSY), Kellogg (K), Hostess Brands (TWNK), Bloomin’ Brands (BLMN),Brinker International (EAT), Starbucks (SBUX), Agco (AGCO), Deere (DE), Albertsons (ACI), Kroger (KR) and Bunge (BG). Palo Alto Networks (PANW) also gets a favorable writeup this week as a savvy way to play the boom in cybersecurity.

Sources: EDGAR, Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters, Renaissance Capital