BlackRock’s most recent earnings report praised remarkable LTM organic asset growth rates across practically every sector of the business — but both operating income and net income continue to decline. We’re interested to see if the strong performance of the stock market in Q2 led to bottom line improvements.
BlackRock (BLK) Stock Performance, 5-Year Chart
Analysts expect $8.43 EPS on Revenue of $4.5 billion.
You can explore the most recent BLK investor presentation here.
UnitedHealth Group (UNH)
UnitedHealth’s most recent earnings report highlighted revenue growth of +15% YoY and earnings from operations growth of +16% YoY. Despite UNH’s massive size and market share — it actually could be a good buy being down -11% this year and being completely recession-proof.
As paying subscribers can see, I’m a happy holder of UNH and continue to grow my position over time. Excited for these results this week!
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Stock Performance, 5-Year Chart
Analysts expect $6.05 EPS on Revenue of $91.0 billion.
You can explore the most recent UNH investor presentation here.
PepsiCo (PEP)
Pepsi’s most recent earnings report featured +10.2% net revenue growth, but a disappointing -54% EPS plummet. We’re interested to see if and how they’ve turned that around.
PepsiCo (PEP) Stock Performance, 5-Year Chart
Analysts expect $1.96 EPS on Revenue of $21.7 billion.
You can explore the most recent PEP investor presentation here.
Investor Events / Global Affairs:
Amazon’s Prime Days, Delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats await legislation decisions, and Alibaba pays a big price.
Amazon Prime Days
Amazon Prime Days are BACK for your annual ‘Christmas shopping’ during the summertime. As a consumer, it’s easy to forget that the sales pose significant supply chain challenges due to the enormous volume of sales and short duration.
Accurately forecasting customer demand is crucial — but challenging as can be.
From warehouse networks & delivery vehicles, to inventory management & product returns — it’s a complete business miracle that Amazon can pull this off. We’re pumped to see if the growth trend continues year-over-year.
According to Bloomberg — A New York state judge has temporarily halted a new city law that would require minimum wage payments for app-based food delivery workers. The law — which was set to go into effect on July 12 — would increase pay for delivery workers to $17.96 an hour before tips.
Companies such as Uber Eats (UBER), DoorDash (DASH), and Grubhub argued that the law could cause irreparable harm to their businesses. More is expected to come out of this case throughout the next couple of weeks.
Alibaba (BABA) Affiliate Ant Group Hit w/ Nearly $1B in Fines
China’s central bank has fined Alibaba (BABA) affiliate Ant Group 7.12 billion yuan ($985 million) for violating various laws and regulations — including corporate governance, consumer protection, and anti-money laundering requirements.
The fine is one of the largest ever imposed on a Chinese internet company and marks the conclusion of the years-long scrutiny and restructuring of Ant Group — which had its IPO canceled in 2020.
The recent fine suggests that Ant Group may be resolving its regulatory issues, and the company has stated that it will comply with the penalty. The crackdown on Ant Group and other Chinese tech giants is part of Beijing’s effort to tighten regulations and rein in the country’s big firms.
BABA stock is interesting. I’m going to look into it deeper and report back in a future Week in Review post.
Major Economic Events:
Inflation for consumers, Inflation for producers, and Consumer Credit.
NFIB Optimism, 5-Year Chart
Monday (7/10): Consumer Credit, Speeches by Fed Vice Chair Barr, Cleveland Fed President Mester, & SF Fed President Daly, Wholesale Inventories
Tuesday (7/11): NFIB Optimism Index
Wednesday (7/12): Consumer Price Index, Fed Beige Book, Speeches by Atlanta Fed President Bostic & Richmond Fed President Barkin
Thursday (7/13): Federal Budget, Producer Price Index, Speech by Fed Governor Waller
Friday (7/14): Consumer Sentiment, Import Price Index
What We’re Watching:
Inflation for Consumers (Core CPI)
Core CPI, 2-Year Chart
Last reading: +5.3% YoY
Analyst Estimate: +4.0 YoY
Note: Core CPI is in focus. The Fed Minutes revealed that the central bank views it as far too sticky.
Inflation for Producers (Core PPI)
Core PPI, 2-Year Chart
Last reading: +2.8% YoY
Analyst Estimate: +2.8% YoY
Note: The last reading marked the smallest 12-month change since February 2021 and the 14th consecutive month that Core PPI slowed down.
Consumer Credit
Note: Americans’ collective credit card balance hovers around $1 trillion, and interest rates routinely top 20 percent. A typical American household now carries around $10,000 in card debt, by one recent WalletHub estimate. A rising share of cardholders carry a balance from one month to the next. We’ll find out the May results this week.
Events-Driven Winners:
Which stocks moved the most last week.
Our friends at LevelFields scrub through thousands of data points each week to determine how events impact stock prices.
This week, LevelFields alerted us of Tesla (TSLA) announcing layoffs at their Shanghai plant amidst Chinese EV market recovery.
Despite the recent layoffs, Tesla has been experiencing significant success both in China and globally. In June, the company’s deliveries from the Shanghai plant witnessed a remarkable 20% year-on-year increase, reaching a total of 93,680 vehicles. Furthermore, Tesla achieved record-breaking vehicle deliveries worldwide during the second quarter. However, the company’s operating margin dipped to 11.4% in the first quarter, reaching a two-year low.
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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or recommendation for any investment. The content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
