As we finally move into February after what has felt like a six-week month at the start of the year, there is a packed financial calendar for investors to gulp down, including rate hikes from the three big central banks and plenty of company updates.
In London there's Shell, GSK, BT, Vodafone and Entain, while earnings season rumbles on across the pond, with more tech titans Apple, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta Platforms updating, plus the likes of McDonalds and Exxon Mobil.
MONDAY 30 JANUARY
Following easyJet and Wizz Air last week, it’s the turn of Ryanair Holdings PLC (LSE:RYA) on Monday.
The Irish budget airline already provided a third-quarter update earlier this month, with passenger numbers lighter than expected.
Analysts at UBS said this week’s Ryanair statement is “more about outlook”.
Elsewhere, Computacenter PLC (LSE:CCC) will upload its pre-close statement, with analysts expecting North America to remain strong and the UK to remain softer, showing how its corporate customers are reacting to the economic backdrop.
Across in the US, Exxon Mobil will be one of those releasing earnings, days after analysts at Citigroup suggested BP and Shell may find themselves negotiating a megamerger with their American peers.
Significant announcements expected on Monday
Finals: SThree PLC (LSE:STEM)
Trading updates: Computacenter PLC, DP Eurasia NV, Ryanair Holdings PLC
AGMs: Bluebird Merchants Ventures Ltd, Contango Holdings (LSE:CGO) PLC, Hollywood Bowl Group PLC (LSE:BOWL), SkinBioTherapeutics PLC (AIM:SBTX), Webis Holdings (AIM:WEB) LC
US earnings Monday: ExxonMobil, Pfizer, UPS, AMD, NXP Semiconductors, General Motors, Spotify, Western Digital, Juniper
TUESDAY 31 JANUARY
Pets at Home Group PLC (LSE:PETS) will be one of those getting attention on Tuesday ahead of the busier diary later in the week.
A third-quarter update will see investors likely to be focused on whether the pressure on the retailer’s profit margins has eased since November.
Among the small caps, there may be extra attention on ITM Power PLC (AIM:ITM) after the hydrogen electrolysis specialist appointed Dennis Schulz as its new chief executive.
Analysts expect Schulz to provide a new strategic plan alongside the results, which may include updates on the expansion of its facility in Sheffield and longer-term expansion goals.
Significant announcements expected on Tuesday
Finals: Standard Life Private Equity Trust
Interims: ITM Power PLC, NWF Group PLC (AIM:NWF)
Trading updates: Hochschild Mining PLC (LSE:HOC, OTCQX:HCHDF), Pets At Home Group PLC
AGMs: Mobiles Streams PLC, Residential Secure Income REIT PLC (AIM:SIR), Team PLC (AIM:TEAM), Treatt PLC
Economic announcements: Employment Cost Index (US), House Price Index (US), Consumer Confidence (US), Nationwide House Price Index (UK), Consumer Credit (UK), M4 Money Supply (UK), Mortgage Approvals (UK)
US earnings Tuesday: McDonalds
WEDNESDAY 1 FEBRUARY
Kicking off the new month are a trio of intriguing London blue-chips, with the US Fed decision to grab all the headlines later.
In London, heavyweight pharma contender GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK), which has done well enough since the Haleon consumer products arm was spun out last summer, but investors will feel the shares could do with another shot in the arm.
For something a bit leftfield, analysts suggest management could discuss offloading more of the residual stake in Haleon.
Fourth-quarter numbers from Entain PLC (LSE:ENT) should deliver good news if its recent BetMGM joint venture update is anything to go by, but not necessarily if results from rival William Hill were the guide.
The update is going to be where we see exactly how the FIFA World Cup impacted revenues for the Ladbrokes and Sportingbet owner.
Stakes are seen as being higher for Vodafone Group PLC (LSE:VOD) when its discloses its third-quarter results, with the beleaguered Anglo-German telecoms group having cut its full-year earnings and cash flow forecasts last November.
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is one of the stars in the US later, with the shares having plunging sharply back in the autumn but rebounding from seven-year lows over 50% since.
Earnings in October missed expectations with guidance lowered on Q4 revenues to between $30bn to $32.5bn, with the Reality Labs division continuing to haemorrhage cash and rivals such as TikTok pulling users away from Instagram, as well as rising costs.
Boss Mark Zuckerberg slashed 11,000 jobs weeks later, which seemed to help the stock price.
Earnings are expected to come in at $2.25 per share.
Significant announcements expected on Wednesday
Finals: GSK PLC
Trading updates: Entain PLC, Gem Diamonds Ltd, Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN), Restore Plc (AIM:RST), Severn Trent PLC (LSE:SVT), Virgin Money UK PLC (LSE:VMUK), Vodafone Group PLC
AGMs: Baronsmead Second Venture Trust PLC, Baronsmead Venture Trust PLC, Catalyst Media Group (AIM:CMX) PLC, Hyve Group PLC (LSE:HYVE), Imperial Brands Group PLC, Mustang Energy PLC (LSE:MUST), Premier Miton Group PLC (AIM:PMI), Renew Holdings (AIM:RNWH) PLC, Schroder Asia Pacific Fund
Economic announcements: BRC Shop Price Index (UK), PMI Manufacturing (UK), MBA Mortgage Applications (US), Construction Spending (US), ISM Manufacturing (US)
US earnings Wednesday: Merck, Altria, Conoco Phillips, Qualcomm, Starbuck’s, Qorvo, Estee Lauder, Pinterest, Coherent, Harley- Davidson, Cirrus Logic, Microchip, Meta Platforms, Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO)
THURSDAY 2 FEBRUARY
Ahead of Thursday's Bank of England and ECB policy decisions, company results include finals from Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) could provide more insight into the ongoing review of its residential energy wing, as well as windfall taxes.
Shareholder returns and renewables intentions will be under the most intense investor scrutiny, with one set of analysts arguing the present plans to increase dividends by 15% and repurchase more than US$18bln of shares are not nearly enough.
Elsewhere among the blue-chips, BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A) has been getting some bullish broker support ahead of its results, especially for any investors who have held on through the 70-plus decline in the four years leading up to the pandemic.
In focus will be the above-inflation price hikes pencilled in for the coming months and an update on merger talks with Three UK – with the group seen as “walking either the tightrope or the plank” going into its quarterlies.
Across the Atlantic, the giant tech trio of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alphabet Inc and Amazon.com Inc release earnings after the closing bell in New York, with recent weeks being characterised by jobs cut announcements around the sector.
For Apple, where Q1 numbers tend to be the company’s best quarter, expectations have been tempered by the problems with its China supply chains and production shutdowns at Foxconn before Christmas.
Google owner Alphabet's prior quarter saw ad revenue come in below expectations, YouTube revenues declining but the cloud business a big silver lining - which news has been followed by announcements about thousands of job cuts.
Amazon also disappointed with its last quarter, especially with guidance for sales of between $140bn to $148bn for the pre-Christmas period, well below the US$155.5bn that had been forecast, partly due to a strong US dollar. Costs will also be watched after rising sharply over the last nine months.
Significant announcements expected on Thursday
Finals: Shell PLC
Interims: Renishaw PLC (LSE:RSW), NCC PLC
Trading updates: Airtel Africa PLC (LSE:AAF), Anglo America PLC, BT Group PLC, Cranswick PLC (LSE:CWK), JTC PLC (LSE:JTC)
AGMs: Abrdn Equity Income Trust PLC, Agronomics Limited, Alteration Earth PLC (LSE:ALTE), Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust PLC, Hargreave Hale AIM VCT PLC, JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust PLC, Sage Group PLC, Schroder European Real Estate Investment Trust PLC
Economic announcements: Continuing Claims (US), Initial Jobless Claims (US), Factory Orders (US)
US earnings Thursday: Amazon, Apple, Eli Lilly, Hershey, Clorox
FRIDAY 3 FEBRUARY
The City calendar is virtually bare, giving more space for speculation and conjecture post the central bank action earlier in the week and scrutiny of the new monthly macro data emerging.
Fresh after the Fed announcement comes the big US jobs market report, with the non-farm payrolls number that always has “all eyes” on it.
In December we saw 223k new jobs added, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% from 3.6% and average hourly earnings growth came in below expectations at 4.6% and the previous month’s numbers were revised down to 4.8%.
“There continues to be a sense that the market is becoming complacent about how quickly we might see the Federal Reserve pivot when it comes to interest rates, however while the unemployment rate remains at multi year lows the US central bank has little incentive to cut rates when inflation still remains almost 3 times higher than its 2% target,” said market analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.
January is expected to have seen 175k new jobs added, with the unemployment rate set to edge back up to 3.6%.
Significant announcements expected on Friday
AGMs: Catalyst Media Group PLC, Cerillion PLC (AIM:CER), Focusrite PLC (AIM:TUNE)
Economic announcements: PMI Composite (UK), PMI Services (UK), Non-Farm Payrolls (US), Unemployment Rate (US), PMI Composite (US), PMI Services (US), ISM Services (US)