magazine archive
magazine archive
Week Ahead
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...
UK Autumn Budget the main focus of attention this week
Thursday 31 Oct 2024For once, Investors’ focus over the next couple of weeks has nothing to do with interest rates or macro events but politics. In the UK, by the time Shares goes to press we will have been treated to the first Labour Budget in 14 years. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said in order to fill the ‘black...
Legal dispute could cast long shadow over Arm earnings
Thursday 31 Oct 2024The recent legal wrangling between UK chip architecture designer Arm Holdings (ARM:NASDAQ) and one of its major clients Qualcomm (QCOM:NASDAQ) is likely to be one of the big talking points when the firm reports second-quarter earnings for fiscal 2025 next week (6 November). The dispute is over a...
BP’s green strategy in focus as it gets set to release quarterly results
Thursday 24 Oct 2024Oil and gas firm BP (BP.) has already released a teaser ahead of its third-quarter results on 29 October. Given this, the focus may be on the company’s long-term strategic direction with reports the company plans to ditch its target to cut oil and gas production by 25% by 2030. This has already...
UK economy continues to set course for a ‘soft landing’ as Budget looms
Thursday 24 Oct 2024The UK economy continues to surprise to the upside. Figures for September showed retail sales grew for the third month running, led by spending on non-food items, heading into the so-called ‘golden quarter’. ‘With peak trading and gifting season approaching, it is encouraging for non-food retailers...