The Week Ahead on Wall Street

Economic Data

Job openings for June are published this morning. In May, job openings jumped to 5.4 million, which was an unexpected increase. Most of the job openings were in construction, retail, and the food services industries as states slowly reopened. June could show a similar pattern before coronavirus cases increased in July.

Tomorrow, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index and the Producer Price Index for July are due. In regards to the former, the Small Business Optimism Index clocked in at 100.6 in June, which was a 6.2 increase from May. This optimism may have been dented in July as some states paused or rolled back their reopening plans due to increased coronavirus cases, which likely impacted small establishments.

Consumer Price Index, Core CPI, and the federal budget for July are published on Wednesday. Given the historic amount of money being injected into the US economy, investors will have their eyes on the Consumer Price Index, which tracks inflation. CPI jumped in June by 0.6%, which was the biggest gain since August 2012, mostly driven by higher food and gas prices. Wall Street will be watching to see if this upward trend continues.

On Thursday, the weekly initial jobless claims report is published. Last week’s report, which highlights data through the week ending August 1, showed that another 1.186 million people filed for unemployment assistance. This was the lowest level since March 14. The previous two jobless claims reports showed slight upticks, so the downward trend allowed investors to breath a cautious sigh of relief. With that said, this figure is still running in excess of 1.1 million on a weekly basis which is detrimental to the prospects of the labor market.

Finally, on Friday, retail sales, industrial production, and capacity utilization for July are released. Business inventories for June are published as are productivity and unit labor costs for Q2. August’s Consumer Sentiment Index is also due, which will shed light on how people are feeling about the state of the economy heading into the fall.

Earnings

Barrick Gold Corp (GOLD) is scheduled to report before the bell today. The company will likely benefit from Gold’s recent surge, although production could impact Barrick’s ultimate performance. The coronavirus has hampered Barrick’s gold production capabilities and brought on unexpected expenses. This means Barrick could see higher revenue, but investors will want to focus on the bottom line as well. Marriott International Inc (MAR), Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME), and Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY) are also scheduled to report.

Tomorrow, all eyes will be on BioNTech SE (BNTX), which reports before markets open. The company has partnered with Pfizer (PFE) to develop four coronavirus vaccine candidates and recently received $1.95 billion from the US government to produce and deliver 100 million doses. One of BioNTech’s vaccine candidates began a global phase IIb/III safety and efficacy study in July, which includes up to 30,000 participants. Investors will be looking for more color on this and other drugs in BioNTech’s pipeline.

Lyft Inc (LYFT) is scheduled to report after markets close on Wednesday. Last week, Lyft’s competitor, Uber (UBER), said bookings for its rideshare business were down 73% from the same quarter last year. However, the company’s food delivery service, Uber Eats, saw bookings increase by 113%. Given the fact that Lyft is more of a rideshare-centric firm, its results could show the downside of a less-diversified overall business. Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO) and Vroom Inc (VRM) are also scheduled to report.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc (BAM) is scheduled to report before markets open Thursday. The alternative asset manager organizes its operations into seven segments including managing private funds, public securities, and real estate. The ongoing pandemic has clobbered certain real estate sectors, including hotels and shopping centers, but other holdings like biotech properties have outperformed. Brookfield recently invested in a 700-acre life sciences campus near the University of Oxford and is looking at adding more of these properties to its portfolio. NetEase Inc (NTES) and Fujifilm Holdings Corp (FUJIY) are also scheduled to report.

Draftkings Inc (DKNG) is scheduled to report on Friday. Live sports leagues such as the NHL, MLB, and NBA recently returned to action so investors will be curious to see how this is impacting activity on the sports-betting company’s platform. Sunworks Inc (SUNW) and ContraFect Corp (CFRX) are also scheduled to report.

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