Retailers WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) and Halfords Group PLC (LSE:HFD) respectively post final results and a trading update, with shares in the former down 8% so far this year and the latter skidding over 63% lower.
Bike retailer and car mechanic Halfords is set to provide a 20-week trading update on the period since its profit warning in June.
It cut pre-tax profit guidance for the year a region of £65mln to £75mln, down from previous expectations of £80mln to £90mln due to an “uncertain outlook.”
Broker Liberum downgraded its view stock and slashed its target price by more than half, stating that the main concern was the more than 50% increase in inventory year over year, which analysts said, “needs more questioning, especially given the tougher outlook.”
Elsewhere, Barratt Developments PLC (LSE:BDEV) will be the second of three housebuilders reporting this week amid continued investor caution around the sector due to rising interest rates and slowing house prices.
While the Newcastle-based group, Britain’s largest builder, in July reported volumes of new homes returning to pre-pandemic volumes, sales faster than expected and house prices remaining in line with expectations, its shares continued to fall.
While it failed to meet guidance for full-year home completions, the company said profit before tax is set to come in slightly ahead of market estimates at the time, at between £1.05bn and £1.06bn.
Looking ahead, Barratt said it expected to grow total home completions in line with its medium-term growth target of 3%-5%, based on current market conditions and assuming no material disruption to its supply chain.
It was much more bullish than fellow FTSE 100 builder Persimmon, which analysts put down to Barratt’s steady-as-she-goes approach during the pandemic.
For investors in US tech, an Apple launch event is likely to garner some attention, while meme stock bro’s will be laser-focused on earnings for GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME), where the shares have benefitted from a recent resurgence from the diamond-handed WallStreetBets crowd.
Last quarterly numbers from GameStop in June showed losses widened to US$157.9m, despite an improvement in revenues to US$1.38bn even though sales of hardware including games consoles saw a fall from a year earlier as continued to return to pre-pandemic ‘normal’ and the sales of games slowed.
The company said it planned to launch a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace by the end of the current quarter, though the market has imploded somewhat in the last few months.
Losses for the past quarter are expected to come in at US$0.35c a share.
Apple’s share price has held up reasonably well, helped by solid earnings.
The decision to offer discounts in its highest spec iPhone 13 in China raised a few eyebrows, said analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.
“This makes more sense if you consider that perhaps the company might want to run down inventory ahead of a new product launch, which is where this week’s Apple event comes in.
“Every year Apple rolls out a series of new updates as it looks towards what tends to be its most positive quarter heading into the Thanksgiving and Christmas period.”
This year’s pre-Christmas trading period is expected to be one of its most challenging yet given the current economic backdrop.
This year’s event is expected to see the unveiling of its new iPhone 14, a new Apple Watch and new iPad models, all powered by a new upgraded chipset, longer-lasting batteries and more powerful cameras, as well as expectations of new iPad models.
Wednesday 7 September
Trading updates: Halfords PLC
Interims: Equals Group PLC (AIM:EQLS), Tissue Regenix Group PLC (AIM:TRX, OTC:TSSNF)
Finals: Barratt Developments PLC (LSE:BDEV), WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH)
AGMs: Bluerock Diamonds PLC (AIM:BRD), Grand Vision Media Holdings PLC (LSE:GVMH), Halfords Group PLC (LSE:HFD), Okyo Pharma Ltd, Redcentric PLC (AIM:RCN), Seed Innovations Limited, Solid State PLC (AIM:SOLI), Taylor Maritime Inc, Trifast (LSE:TRI) PLC, Yellow Cake PLC (AIM:YCA)
Economic announcement: Halifax House Price Index (UK), MBA Mortgage Applications (US), Balance of Trade (US), Crude Oil Inventories (US)
US earnings on Wednesday: NIO, Asana, GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME)