A trifecta of key economic releases and earnings from several noteworthy firms will be of interest to market watchers this week. Investors will watch for delayed January jobs data, consumer inflation and retail sales reports in the coming days. The employment and CPI reports. were delayed by a brief government shutdown last week; retail sales data for December was pushed back as a result of the 2025 government shutdown. Traders will also be watching for earnings from Cisco, an artificial intelligence infrastructure provider, along with reports from other tech and pharmaceutical firms. Updates from consumer stocks like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Ford Motor and T-Mobile are also due this week.
Data on Jobs, CPI Inflation, and Retail Sales Set for This Week
The wait for January jobs data is expected to end Wednesday with the release of the monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report. Initially scheduled for release last week, the report was pushed back when the Labor Department was impacted by a brief government shutdown. U.S. employers added fewer jobs than expected in December, even as the unemployment rate ticked lower.
The January CPI inflation report, meanwhile, is due Friday. Inflation remained steady in December, while the more-focused “core” inflation reading came in lower than expectations. Fed officials have indicated that they were waiting to see more improvement in inflation data before lowering rates further. Market watchers will also look to see if U.S. consumers kept up their spending streak in the holiday shopping season with the Tuesday release of the December retail sales report.
Cisco, Coca-Cola, Crypto Stocks in Focus
Computer networking giant Cisco reports earnings on Wednesday, which could provide clues about artificial intelligence (AI) demand. CEO Chuck Robbins said last year that the company was seeing “massive opportunity ahead” for AI infrastructure sales. Other tech firms delivering financial results this week include semiconductor maker Onsemi, microchip equipment manufacturer Applied Materials, and networking equipment provider Arista Networks. Several consumer stocks are also on the earnings calendar. Coca-Cola recently posted better-than-expected profits, and its shares are around all-time highs. McDonald’s report could shed more light on its customer base as more wealthy eaters have been frequenting the chain. Earnings from soap maker Unilever and online e-commerce platform Shopify will add to the picture on consumer health.
Reports from Ford, Honda, and Ferrari will shine a light on auto sales levels, while financial updates from Marriott and Airbnb will offer insight into travel demand. Investors will also be watching pharmaceutical firms this week, as AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals are reporting. Trading platforms Robinhood and Coinbase Global are also in the spotlight amid a recent decline in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
What analysts are saying about U.S. stocks
Citi: “On a tactical basis, global equities could thus see some consolidation. While volatility could become a feature this year, we remain constructive to year-end and see broadening equity performance (Overweight EM/Japan). Global IT nonetheless looks increasingly attractive in our allocation models, though we are more cautious (Neutral) in Europe.”
Oppenheimer: “In our view, market action could continue near term to dance from theme to theme through most of this week with the direction of the markets prone to shifts from “risk on” to “risk off” resulting as in recent weeks in some roundtrip action through the week depending on the data du jour. The good news persists in that the underlying economic and corporate fundamentals remain overall positive with data along with earnings growth suggesting to us that there’s enough resilience for stocks to withstand and navigate some choppiness near term.”
RBC Capital Markets: “It’s possible that this latest bout of weakness has played out for now. If there’s more pain to come, we think it’s reasonable to anticipate a tier 1 garden-variety pullback in the 5-10% range. In the post-GFC era, serious drawdowns that have exceeded the 5-10% range have tended to be growth scares, when fears of a systemic issue or recession surface – similar to the environment seen a year ago when the S&P 500 fell 18.9% around the liberation day tariff announcement. While we take concerns about the AI trade and private markets and other matters seriously, we think it’s premature to assume that’s the kind of risk we face today.”
Goldman Sachs: “We expect 120 IPOs totaling $160 billion will come to market in 2026. Large historical increases in IPO supply have typically preceded below-average equity market returns, but we think much of this is correlation rather than causation.”