Zoom Demands In-Person Meetings
In a twist of irony, Zoom (ZM) — perhaps the company most closely associated with remote work — recently ordered its employees to return to the office.
The video conferencing company’s shares surged substantially during the pandemic. But it has not been immune to the tech industry struggles. In February, Zoom cut about 1,300 jobs, or 15% of its staff. The recent return-to-work mandate follows the lead of fellow tech giants Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOGL) to increase productivity; but these announcements tend to lead to employee pushback.
Zoom also tweaked its Terms & Conditions, allowing Zoom to possibly use images and videos from private meetings to train AI algorithms, sparking worries among users. CEO Eric Yuan quickly responded, stating the company will only train AI when they receive user consent. Either way the company will have some concerns to quell when it reports quarterly earnings later today.
Economic Data
Tomorrow, investors will get an update on existing US home sales for July. In June, existing home sales dropped the lowest level in five months.
On Wednesday, a flurry of mortgage data will be released including applications, refinancings, and an update to the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate, which currently sits at 7.2%. Additionally, investors will get an early look at August industry activity in manufacturing and services through the S&P Global (SPGI) flash PMI, ahead of the full reports next week.
On Thursday, Wall Street will receive an update on durable goods orders, which jumped 4.7% in June. Like every Thursday, the Labor Department will release initial jobless claims. Americans filing for unemployment hit a seven-week high of 239,000 in the week ended August 12 but remains in line with prepandemic trends.
To round out the week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday. Investors will be eager for more insight into the central bank’s stance on interest rates for the remainder of the year.
Earnings
Today, in addition to Zoom (ZM), EV company Faraday Future (FFIE) will report its quarterly earnings. The California-based startup recently delivered its first AI-powered vehicle, the FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance, marking a major step toward revenue generation.
Tomorrow, Lowe’s (LOW) will look to improve on Home Depot’s earnings. The retailer’s main competitor reported sliding sales last week. Later in the morning, Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) will keep the retail reports rolling.
On Wednesday, investors will get the latest earnings from NVIDIA (NVDA). Last quarter, the chipmaker got a major boost from the popularity of AI, catapulting it into the $1 trillion market cap club. Cloud computing company Snowflake (SNOW) will also report.
On Thursday, Intuit (INTU), Dollar Tree (DLTR), and Affirm (AFRM) will hand in their report cards. Intuit is expected to speak on its partnership with OpenAI to bring generative AI to its considerable suite of software tools, including TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp.
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