Retailers will reveal more about the holiday-shopping season in the coming week, with the end of the earnings recession in sight.
Home Depot Inc. HD, -0.68%[1] is the lone Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.78%[2] component on the docket, and will be joined by plenty of other retailers that will add to the recent results from Walmart Inc. WMT, +0.76%[3] More than 440 members of the S&P 500 SPX, -1.05%[4] have already delivered results and 41 more companies are set to join them in the week ahead, with non-retail reports largely focused on software.
Barring major issues in retail and cloud earnings, the S&P is set to snap the streak of earnings declines that it experienced for most of last year[5]. Net income fell on a year-over-year basis during the first three quarters of 2019, but FactSet now models growth of 0.86% for the fourth quarter, taking into account the 1.3% growth from companies that have already reported earnings and analysts’ projections for the rest.
The projection for earnings growth comes in a reversal of sentiment[6] from the start of reporting season, when analysts were projecting a continuation of the earnings recession, which exists when profits drop for two or more consecutive quarters.
Here’s what to watch for in the week ahead.
Retail
Walmart Inc. helped usher in retail earnings with a disappointing forecast[7], partly due to the coronavirus impact[8], but detailed the money it can save by getting rid of bags[9]. Now a host of other retailers are preparing to report, including Home Depot and Macy’s Inc. M, -2.46%[10] Tuesday morning, Lowe’s Cos. Inc. LOW, -1.00%[11] and TJX Cos Inc. TJX, -0.88%[12] Wednesday morning, L Brands Inc. ...