It’s a helluva week ahead, with five of the FTSE 100’s top 10 and four of the US tech mega caps, with no let up in the reporting action as well as Federal Reserve, ECB and Bank of Japan meetings.
Among the London lot we have AstraZeneca, Shell, Unilever from the top five, BAT and GSK from the top 10, Reckitt, Compass and Lloyds from the top 20 as well as fellow blue-chip banks Barclays and NatWest, not to mention British Airways owner IAG, ITV, Compass and Frasers Group.
Across the pond, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft, accounting for around US$6 trillion of market value, as well as Intel, Spotify and GE; Visa and Mastercard; GM and Ford; Coca-Cola, Keurig Dr Pepper and McDonald’s; AbbVie and Bristol-Myers; Boeing, Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
Monday 24 July
The action kicks off on Monday with Vodafone Group PLC (LSE:VOD), the worst performing share on the FTSE 100 over the past 12 months, where a first-quarter trading update is “likely to be mixed”, according to analysts.
There are a few other FTSE 350 reporters, including Warhammer owner Games Workshop Group PLC (LSE:GAW), which after a difficult 2022, has risen just over 100% since lows in October, with investors wondering if momentum can be maintained in the same vein as a solid update last month.
In the US, not earnings but worth noting, the changes will become effective of a 'special rebalance' of the Nasdaq 100 index, to reduce the weightings of the largest names in the index, including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and Meta.
Significant announcements on Monday
Trading updates: Cranswick PLC (LSE:CWK), Games Workshop Group PLC, DiscoverIE Group PLC, Ryanair Holdings PLC (LSE:RYA), Vodafone Group PLC
Interims: Science Group PLC (AIM:SAG), Moneysupermarket Group PLC
AGMs: MobilityOne Ltd
Economic announcements: Preliminary PMI Manufacturing (UK), Preliminary PMI Services (UK)
Tuesday 25 July
Unilever PLC (LSE:ULVR), the fourth of the £100bn-plus companies on the Footsie index, has benefited from inflation in the past year but this may be running out, some analysts reckon.
There could be some hard questions about its Russian operations too, with the company saying it was not pulling out as it was "not straightforward" as it was accused of contributing £579mln a year to the Russian economy.
It’s a huge day later in the US, with Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) both unveiling earnings after the market close.
As the second and third largest US tech companies, 6.4% and 11.4% of respective weightings in the Nasdaq Composite index, their reports will be key after the big wobble on the back of disappointing earnings from Tesla and Netflix the preceding week.
Google’s parent company Alphabet is set to post a mixed set of earnings, with analysts and investors fascinated to hear what it has to say about artificial intelligence (AI) developments into its search and other businesses.
AI will certainly be on the menu at Microsoft, which recently saw its shares achieve their highest valuation of all time after disclosing a premium pricing model for its generative AI software suite.
Significant announcements on Tuesday
Trading updates: Compass Group PLC (LSE:CPG), JTC PLC (LSE:JTC), Mitie Group PLC (LSE:MTO), Sage Group PLC
Interims: Bridgepoint Group PLC (LSE:BPT), Croda International PLC (LSE:CRDA), Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (EPA:MC) SE, SThree PLC (LSE:STEM), Tyman (LSE:TYMN) PLC, Unilever PLC, Unite Group PLC (LSE:UTG)
US earnings: Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corporation, Verizon Communications Inc, Visa Inc (NYSE:V), Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP), Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT), General Electric (NYSE:GE), General Motors, Teladoc (NYSE:TDOC) Health Inc
AGMs: ADM Energy PLC (AIM:ADME, ETR:P4JC), Atome Energy PLC, B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME), JZ Capital Partners Ltd, Mitie Group PLC, Molecular Energies PLC (AIM:MEN, OTC:PPCGD), Safestay (AIM:SSTY) PLC, Vodafone Group PLC
Economic announcements: House Price Index (US), Consumer Confidence (US)
Wednesday 26 July
Although Wednesday is Fed day, before that there’s going to be a raft of news from big FTSE companies.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY) is chief among them, especially as it is among the lenders being tipped to pull in billions from what politicians have described as sharp practice: quickly hiking mortgage rates and slowly nudging up those for savings.
Lloyds is among those forecast to hike its full-year guidance next week, though if it does so, will it be happy to handle the howl of injustice from its customers?
Other Footsie-listed reporters on the day include British American Tobacco PLC (LSE:BATS), seventh worst performing shares on the index over the past year, amid worries about its debt, calls for vaping bans and a new CEO cautioning that the year is going to be “complex”.
GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) shares have been trading near year’s lows earlier this month, despite the out-of-court Zantac deal and good news on a groundbreaking gonorrhoea vaccine, indicating that many investors are far from convinced boss Emma Walmsley is on the way to catching former close rival AstraZeneca.
Reckitt Benckiser PLC reports for the first time since making an internal promotion, chief customer officer Kris Licht, its new CEO, following several other board changes of late.
An analyst recently said after the past seven years of “mishap, drama and volatility”, there is a heavy burden on Licht to try to put this all in the rear-view mirror.
Later, the US central bank is predicted to resume interest rate hikes after a first pause in 11 meetings.
Markets and economists are expecting a quarter-point raise, with attention on how dovish the policymakers are about potential moves higher later in the year.
Also after the US closing bell, there will be earnings from Meta, Coke and Boeing among others.
For the Facebook and Instagram owner, analysts are predicting improvement in advertising revenue, though the shares were faltering at the end of the week before the earnings update following a 150% surge in the year to date.
Significant announcements on Wednesday
Trading updates: Fresnillo PLC (LSE:FRES), GSK PLC, Rathbones PLC
Interims: British American Tobacco PLC, Centamin PLC (LSE:CEY, TSX:CEE, OTC:CELTF), Elementis plc (LSE:ELM), FDM Group (LSE:FDM) PLC, Lloyds Banking Group PLC, Primary Health Properties PLC (LSE:PHP, OTC:PHPRF), Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LSE:RKT, ETR:3RB), RHI Magnesita NV, Rio Tinto PLC (LSE:RIO), Banco Santander (LSE:BNC) SA, Breedon Group Plc (LSE:BREE)
Finals: Hargreaves Services Plc (AIM:HSP, OTC:HGRVF), Van Elle PLC
US earnings: Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Coca-Cola Co, The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), AT&T Corporation, Automatic Data Processing Inc, CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Inc, Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) Inc, QuantumScape Corp, ServiceNow Inc
AGMs: Aquila Services Group PLC, B.P Marsh & Partners, Eurasia Mining PLC (AIM:EUA), Molten Ventures PLC (LSE:GROW), Motorpoint PLC, NewRiver REIT PLC (LSE:NRR), Ninety One PLC (LSE:N91), Norcros PLC (LSE:NXR), OptiBiotix Health PLC (AIM:OPTI, OTC:OPBXF), Oracle Power PLC (AIM:ORCP), Palace Capital PLC (LSE:PCA), Triad Group PLC
Economic announcements: BRC Shop Price Index (UK), MBA Mortgage Applications (US), New Homes Sales (US), Crude Oil Inventories (US), Fed interest rate decision (US)
Thursday 27 July
Like its US counterpart, the ECB is expected to hike interest rates on Thursday, with president Christine Lagarde likely to suggest more increases are on their way.
It’s a FTSE 100-fest in terms of company news, led by Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL), which was recently tipped by one broker for having the strongest balance sheet of all the European integrated oil majors.
Ahead of these second-quarter results, the oil colossus unveiled US$3bn of write-downs and said it trading at its gas division would be "significantly lower" compared with the previous quarter, due to seasonal factors.
Elsewhere in the energy space, Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA) and Drax were placed ‘positive catalyst watch’ ahead of interim results by JP Morgan, with both forecast to report strong earnings and cash flow, and provide updates on how they will allocate capital.
BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A) is predicted to announce a strong first quarter on the back of its recent big price hikes, analysts reckon, though its shares are the fourth worst performer on the FTSE 100 for the past 12 months.
Barclays PLC (LSE:BARC) is more geared to the global market than either Lloyds or Natwest who report this week. With rival US ‘bulge bracket' banks slashing jobs due to an absence of deal activity, how its merchant bank is faring will be key.
Significant announcements on Thursday
Trading updates: Airtel Africa PLC (LSE:AAF), Beazely PLC, Britvic PLC (LSE:BVIC), BT Group PLC, CMC Markets PLC (LSE:CMCX), Shell PLC
Interims: Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL), Barclays PLC, Centrica PLC, Drax Group (LSE:DRX), Greencoat UK Wind PLC (LSE:UKW), Hammerson PLC (LSE:HMSO), Inchcape PLC (LSE:INCH), Indivior PLC (LSE:INDV), Informa PLC (LSE:INF), ITV PLC (LSE:ITV), Jupiter Fund Management PLC (LSE:JUP), Mobico Group PLC, Rentokil Initial PLC (LSE:RTO), Schroders PLC (LSE:SDR), Segro PLC, St James's Place PLC, Vesuvius Plc (LSE:VSVS)
Finals: Frasers Group PLC (LSE:FRAS)
US earnings: McDonald’s Corp, AbbVie Inc, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY), Keurig Dr Pepper Inc, Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA), Takeda Pharmaceutical, Willis Towers Watson, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), Mondelez (NASDAQ:MDLZ) International Inc, Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU)
AGMs: Arkle Resources PLC (AIM:ARK), Biotech Growth Trust PLC, Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd (AIM:CGH), CMC Markets PLC, Dekel Agri-Vision plc (AIM:DKL), Firering Strategic Minerals PLC (AIM:FRG), Graft Polymer UK PLC, Kendrick Resources PLC (LSE:KEN), Montanaro Uk Smaller Cos Investment Trust PLC, Northern 3 VCT PLC, Petrel Resources PLC (AIM:PET), Puma Alpha VCT PLC, Puma VCT 13 PLC, Record PLC (LSE:REC), Tate & Lyle PLC (LSE:TATE), Tiger Royalties & Investments PLC, Volex PLC (AIM:VLX)
Economic announcements: Continuing Claims (US), Durable Goods Orders (US), GDP (Preliminary) (US), Initial Jobless Claims (US), Pending Homes Sales (US), ECB interest rate decision (EU)
Ex-dividends to reduce FTSE 100 by: 2.89
Friday 28 July
Following an update from smaller FTSE rival earlier in the week, AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN) gets a chance to show the City why it’s top dog of the blue chip index, having hit an all-time high in April but retreated since.
British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LSE:IAG) has the potential to outperform as major airlines benefit from strong passenger demand, one investment bank said ahead of these second-quarter results.
Another downgraded across the sector due to a predicted drop in air fares, while investors may also be interested in what is said about the Russian cyberattack earlier in the summer.
Elsewhere, NatWest Group PLC (LSE:NWG) and Standard Chartered PLC (LSE:STAN) close off the week’s banking updates.
The former has more of a UK focus but some investment banking interest, while the latter has strongly outperformed since late May.
In the first quarter, StanChart upped its full-year guidance after a strong first quarter, with profits up by 25% and a promise to pay out US$5bn to shareholders by 2024.
Later in the day, US earnings include Chevron and Exxon Mobil, where investors solidly rejected climate change proposals at the US oil majors’ annual meetings back in May.
Significant announcements on Friday
Trading updates: AstraZeneca PLC, Paragon Banking Group PLC (LSE:PAG)
Interims: IMI PLC (LSE:IMI), International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, Intertek Group PLC (LSE:ITRK), Morgan Advanced Materials plc (LSE:MGAM), NatWest Group PLC, Rightmove PLC (LSE:RMV), Standard Chartered PLC, Vanquis Banking Group PLC
US earnings: Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), The Proctor & Gamble Company
AGMs: African Pioneer PLC (LSE:AFP), Bezant Resources PLC (AIM:BZT) (BZT)PLC, Group PLC, Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Ltd (LSE:CORD), DP Poland PLC (AIM:DPP), Helical (LSE:HLCL) PLC, Jangada Mines PLC (AIM:JAN), Mercantile Ports & Logistics Ltd, MetalNRG PLC (LSE:MNRG), Northern 2 VCT PLC, Oxford Instruments PLC (AIM:OXIG), R&Q Insurance Holdings Ltd (AIM:RQIH), Science In Sport PLC, Xtract Resources PLC (LSE:XTR)
Economic announcements: Employment Cost Index (US), Personal Consumption Expenditures (US), Personal Income (US), Personal Spending (US), Chicago PMI (US), University of Michigan Confidence (US)