Filed under: Company News, Earnings, Market News, Industry News, Investing
From the leading online retailer putting out a new set-top TV device to several retailers hoping to shine nicely ahead of the telltale holiday shopping season, here are some of the things that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street.
Monday — Urban Warfare
The new trading week kicks off with Urban Outfitters (URBN) reporting quarterly results. The retailer behind Anthropologie, Free People and its namesake trendy apparel chain has been struggling lately. It warned in mid-October that comparable retail segment net sales were running negative for the quarter that ended two weeks ago. It also disappointed investors by pointing out that gross profit margins may take a hit.
Analysts who were initially expecting a small uptick in earnings for the fiscal third quarter before the update now see profitability going the wrong way. Shoppers can be fickle. It won’t bode well for the seasonally potent holiday shopping period if the negative store-level trends continue into the new quarter.
Tuesday — All Those Orange Aprons
Home Depot (HD) reports on Tuesday morning. Home improvement has been a strong niche since the housing market bottomed out a couple of years after the real estate bubble popped in 2007. With property prices inching higher and fewer mortgages underwater, we’re seeing homeowners with greater freedom to invest in improving their homesteads. Smaller rival Lowe’s (LOW) checks in a day later.
Wednesday — This Is a Stick-Up
Amazon.com (AMZN) will be rolling out a lot of interesting gadgets in the coming days and weeks, and on Wednesday we’ll see the Fire TV Stick hit the market. Amazon rolled out Fire TV earlier this year at $99, and this is a smaller, scaled-down version that plugs into an available HDMI port on your TV and turns it into a streaming smart television.
The $39 price point is making it competitively priced for the low-end market dominated by Roku and Chromecast. It seems to be selling well. Amazon’s site claims that orders placed now won’t likely ship out until mid-January. Those who preordered early will get their Fire TV Sticks on Wednesday.
Thursday — More on Shopping
There will be plenty of retailers posting quarterly results this week. Gap (GPS), Buckle (BKE) and Ross Stores (ROST) are just some of the apparel retailers. Some of the specialty chains stepping up include video game retailer GameStop (GME) and consumer electronics superstore Best Buy (BBY).
Friday — Hungry for More
Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) gets to milk the popular “Hunger Games” franchise again with Friday’s theatrical debut of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1.” Yes, Part 1. The second and final part hits a multiplex near you next November.
Just as we’ve seen with “Harry Potter” and “Twilight,” the final book in popular franchises is sometimes broken into two movies. It’s annoying, but it worked well for “Harry Potter.”
Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Home Depot, Lions Gate Entertainment, The Buckle and Urban Outfitters. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, GameStop and The Buckle. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. To read about our favorite high-yielding dividend stocks for any investor, check out our free report.
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Source: Investing
