magazine archive
magazine archive
Week Ahead
Data suggests caution ahead of the Budget may have slowed UK growth
Thursday 28 Nov 2024Investors were recently served up two fairly unflattering UK data points – October retail sales, which came in lower than expected, and public borrowing, which came in higher than expected. After three months of rises, retail sales fell 0.7% by volume in October due to a combination of consumers...
UK growth disappoints while Chinese consumer spending perks up
Thursday 21 Nov 2024With the ‘sugar rush’ of the US elections fading, attention turned back to the state of the global economy last week with a couple of data points worth mentioning. UK third-quarter GDP came in short of expectations due to poorer manufacturing output, prompting a good deal of hand-wringing and...
Can Pets at Home paw its way back to retail like-for-like growth?
Thursday 21 Nov 2024Weaker demand for discretionary toys and treats and an ongoing vet industry investigation by the CMA (Competition & Markets Authority), driven by concerns market consolidation has led to pet owners being overcharged for medicines and prescriptions, have kept Pets at Home’s (PETS) shares on a...
Dell could be poised for AI-powered server boom
Thursday 21 Nov 2024Texas-headquartered Dell Technologies (DELL:NYSE) stock has been making strides since the end of the summer and investors will be anticipating a strong end to 2024 as its AI servers business ramps up activity. Next week’s quarterly earnings are a potential test of this confidence. Dell is already a...
Stocks and bonds diverge as US election result becomes clear
Thursday 14 Nov 2024Markets generally dislike uncertainty, so on the one hand traders were pleased the US presidential race turned out to be a more one-sided affair than the polls had predicted. On the other hand, while equities hit new highs on Trump’s reputation for backing ‘growth’ and doing away with regulation,...
US consumer bellwether Walmart could bump up its outlook again
Thursday 14 Nov 2024Shares expects upcoming third-quarter results (19 November) from Walmart (WMT:NYSE) to confirm the world’s biggest retailer continued to gorge on US market share and grow internationally in the three months to the end of October. Given its sheer scale, Walmart has been able to push back against...
Boring has been beautiful for shareholders of distributor Diploma
Thursday 14 Nov 2024There is a lot to be said for being boring, especially when markets are volatile, and no firm quite captures that essence like FTSE 100 specialist distribution group Diploma (DPLM) , whose shares have already sailed serenely to half a dozen all-time highs so far this year. Diploma operates a...
AstraZeneca shares fall ahead of third-quarter update
Thursday 07 Nov 2024Shares in pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca (AZN) have fallen by around 16% over the past two months after recording an all-time high at the end of August. This reflects disappointing late-stage clinical trial results for the company’s antibody cancer treatment Dato-DXd, being developed with Daiichi...
Has Home Depot defied the DIY slowdown?
Thursday 07 Nov 2024On 12 November, the world’s largest home improvement retailer Home Depot (HD:NYSE) will report third-quarter earnings. Year-to-date, shares in this US consumer bellwether have underperformed the S&P 500 with a rough 15% gain. Shares believes Home Depot will need to at least meet the $39.2...
Can Marks & Spencer maintain its ‘remarkable’ momentum?
Thursday 31 Oct 2024Marks & Spencer’s (MKS) stock is up the best part of 80% over one year and has rallied 40% year-to-date, driven by positive momentum in both food and clothing and a recent return to the dividend trail which has attracted income seekers. This suggests the British retail institution will need to...