Big-cap tech stocks continue to rise on AI hopes, with the Nasdaq hitting an all-time high on Friday, surpassing its last record of 2021. The tech-heavy index ended the week up 1.74%, while the S&P index rose 1.74% for the week. 500 rose nearly 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.11%. This year’s earnings season has come to an end, and it’s been a strong season. Of the 97% of S&P 500 companies that reported fourth-quarter results, 73% reported better-than-expected profits and 64% reported better-than-expected earnings results, according to FactSet data. Two portfolio stocks that announced their results last week also did not disappoint. TJX Companies, the discount retailer behind TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods, outperformed on nearly every important metric, prompting us to raise our price target. Enterprise giant Salesforce also ended 2024 on a high note, with earnings growth on top of a surprise dividend. The main economic report this week was Thursday’s personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, which rose 0.4% in January, in line with expectations. Matching expectations is enough for bulls and suggests further disinflation at both headline and core levels. This was a major victory for the central bank in its fight against inflation, after the consumer price index and producer price index in early February came in better than expected. Over the next week, we will release earnings results for three more stocks in our portfolio, as well as several important economic reports. 1. Everything about work. This week’s focus will be on the February non-farm payrolls report, which will be released before the bell on Friday. Markets are buoyant after last week’s positive economic data. Although the monthly jobs report is backward-looking, it will provide further clues about the future direction of consumer health and inflation. Remember that purchasing power is a result of prices and wages. Higher wages mean that higher prices can be absorbed. Wall Street wants wage inflation to be contained and unemployment to fall. This is a Goldilocks mix that keeps the economy on track while inflation continues to fall. As of Friday, economists expected a pay increase of 200,000. Annual wage inflation is expected to remain at 4.5%, the same level as January’s rise. A figure below 4.5%, but higher than January’s 2.4% rise in the PCE index, would certainly be welcomed as it would put downward pressure on inflation while regaining some of consumers’ purchasing power. . Good for Main Street, good for Wall Street. First up is Wednesday’s ADP jobs report, where economists expect the economy to grow by 150,000 jobs in January. The JOLTS (Job Jobs and Labor Turnover Survey) report, also released on Wednesday, should show how tight the labor market is by analyzing job openings, hiring rates and turnover rates. Although the nonfarm payrolls report is more important than either of those two reports, we expect investors to use it to gauge future developments on Friday. 2. Manufacturing updates. January’s factory orders statistics (expected to be down 2.8%) and February’s ISM services PMI report (expected to be 52.5%) will both be released on Tuesday. Factory orders provide insight into business and consumer sentiment, because when a product is in demand and expected to continue to be in demand, businesses need to place more orders. As a result, an increase in factory orders could be seen as a sign that the economy continues to expand. There is one caveat. Growth should not be strictly the result of price inflation, as demand pressures can be masked. The service sector has proven to be very resilient. Similar to what we said last week about the ISM Manufacturing Report, the ‘Respondent Opinion’ section of the ISM Service Report always provides great insight. Measures the rate of contraction/expansion as measured by distance from a 50-level benchmark. The further you go below 50, the faster the contractions. Above 50, the expansion speed becomes faster. 3. Revenue. As discussed at Friday’s meeting, the question for Foot Locker is whether demand will last beyond the holiday season. Investors are hoping the sneaker and apparel chain is burning through inventory without over-promoting. Any updates on the company’s turnaround would be welcome. For the core company that owns Costco, sales performance is not the primary focus, given that the world’s best-run retailer provides monthly sales updates. What we are more interested in is changes in the number of pedestrians. Remember: Costco isn’t about making high-margin sales, it’s about selling club memberships and sales volume. Consumers’ focus on quality value has likely only intensified in recent months, as inflation remains just above his Fed’s 2% target level. We’re also interested in learning about online advertising, which could be another avenue for growth, similar to Amazon and Walmart. Broadcom expects continued strong network revenue growth from last quarter on the back of a major AI infrastructure refresh cycle. Our focus is on what percentage of the overall business directly benefits from AI. This is because it shows how big the opportunity is and the future benefits. You may also be interested in the latest information on VMware integration and commentary on the demand for custom chip solutions (ASICs). Monday, March 4 Before the bell: Sea Limited (SE) After the bell: GitLab (GTLB), Paymentus Holdings (PAY), Semrush Holdings (SEMR), Eos Energy Enterprises (EOSE), AeroVironment, Inc (AVAV), Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR), Stitch Fix (SFIX), ThredUp (TDUP) Tuesday, March 5th 10am ET: Factory Orders 10am ET: ISM Services PMI Before the Bell : NIO (NIO), Target Corp. (TGT), Cipher Mining Inc (CIFR), Ferguson plc (FERG) Afterbell: CrowdStrike (CRWD), ChargePoint Holdings (CHPT), Ross Stores (ROST), Nuvei Corporation (NVEI) , Nordstrom (JWN), ODDITY Tech Ltd. (ODD), Box (BOX) Wednesday, March 6th 8:15am ET: ADP Hiring 10am ET: JOLTS Jobs 2pm ET: FED Beige Book Before the Bell: Foot Locker (Florida), JD.com (JD), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), EVgo (EVGO), Trinity Capital (TRIN), Campbell Soup Company (CPB), Genius Sports Limited (GENI), Thor Industries (THO), United Natural Foods (UNFI) ) After the Bell: TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC Corp. (TPVG), Victoria’s Secret & Co. (VSCO), Rush Street Interactive (RSI), Inovio Biomedical Corp (INO), Vermilion Energy (VET), Emergent BioSolutions Inc (EBS) , Infinera Corp. (INFN) , OneSpan (OSPN) , Grupo Supervielle SA (SUPV) , Yext (YEXT) Thursday, March 7th 8:30am ET: First unemployment benefits before the bell Filed by: Kroger Co. (KR), Burlington Stores Inc. (BURL), Big Lots (BIG), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ), Bilibili (BILI), Ciena Corporation (CIEN), Paysafe Group Holdings Limited (PSFE), ABM Industries (ABM) and later Bells: Broadcom (AVGO), Costco Wholesale (COST), Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL), MongoDB (MDB), DocuSign (DOCU), Samsara (IOT), Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (PBR), Gap (GPS), BigBear.ai (BBAI), Runway Growth Finance Corp (RWAY), Profound Medical Corp. (PROF), Evolus (EOLS), Arcturus Therapeutics (ARCT), OppFi (OPFI), Concrete Pumping Holdings (BBCP), Funko (FNKO) ) Friday, March 8, 8:300 a.m. ET: Non-Farm Payroll Before Bell: America’s Car-Mart, Inc. (CRMT), Algonquin Power & Utilities, Inc. (AQN), Genesco (GCO) (See here for a complete list of Jim’s stocks) Cramer’s Charitable Trust. ) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you will receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. 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The Foot Locker exclusive PUMA Transformers Trainer was released on November 22nd and was on display at the Excel on Day 3 of MCM London Comic Con 2018 on October 28, 2018 in London, England.
Olly Millington | Getty Images
Big tech stocks continue to rise on AI hopes, with the Nasdaq hitting an all-time high on Friday, surpassing its last record of 2021. The tech stocks ratio ended the week up 1.74%, while the S&P 500 rose. Almost 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.11%.