Earnings season will kick off this week with reports from big banks and financial institutions including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, BlackRock, and PNC Financial Services. PepsiCo, Delta Air Lines, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and UnitedHealth will also report earnings.
We’ll get the latest inflation reports, with updates on producer and consumer prices on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Also on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release meeting minutes from its latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Last, Amazon will host its two-day “Prime Big Deal Days” event starting Tuesday, in which Prime members can take advantage of deals and discounts on popular brands and products.
Earnings Season Kicks Off
Earnings season kicks off this week with reports from big banks and financial-sector companies including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, BlackRock, and PNC Financial Services. Companies are pessimistic overall about their earnings prospects. Of the 116 S&P 500 companies issuing earnings guidance, 74 have put out negative guidance, while 42 have issued positive outlooks, according to research from FactSet. At 116, the number of companies issuing guidance is the highest since FactSet began tracking this metric in 2006, surpassing the previous record of 113 last quarter.
The Latest Inflation Readings
We’ll get the latest updates on prices this week. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will issue the September Producer Price Index (PPI), tracking inflation from the standpoint of manufacturers and wholesalers. Producer prices are often viewed as a leading indicator of consumer prices, as manufacturers’ costs are eventually passed on to consumers. The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) will follow on Thursday. Consumer prices are projected to have risen 0.4% last month and 3.7% from a year ago, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland forecasts. Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs, also were likely up 0.4% from August and 4.2% year-over-year. That would mark the smallest annual increase since September 2021.
Amazon’s ‘Prime Big Deal Days’ Event
Starting Tuesday, Amazon will host its “Prime Big Deal Days” event for Prime members, which will take place in 19 countries, including the U.S., and run through Wednesday. Prime members can expect deals and discounts on popular brands like Peloton, LG, Sony, iRobot, SharkNinja, and Barbie, among others. The event was first announced in August and will be held just three months after Prime Day 2023, which was Amazon’s most successful Prime Day to date. Customers worldwide bought 375 million products during the two-day event, saving a combined $2.5 billion on deals and discounts, according to Amazon. The first day of Prime Day this year was the single-biggest sales day ever on Amazon.7