With the coronavirus outbreak continuing to play havoc in the global markets, investors should get ready for another roller coaster ride in the week ahead.
The number of infections outside of China, where the novel disease originated, are growing rapidly and there is now little doubt the disease will drastically hurt global trade. The U.S. reported two fatalities in Florida over the weekend as the number of infections and fatalities continue to grow.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which at one point had plunged almost 900 points, finished the Friday down about 257 points, or roughly off 1%, at 25,864.78. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite swung more than 4% to their lows for the day, before each closing down less than 2%.
Though the coronavirus will continue to dominate market sentiment and therefore trading, there are some big earnings announcements that investors shouldn’t ignore. These are the three stocks we're focusing on in the coming week:
1. Broadcom
The final, big chipmaker to release earnings this current season is Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO). The company reports 1Q 2020 numbers on Thursday, March 12, after the close. Consensus calls for $5.34 EPS on $6 billion in revenue.
In the latest earnings report, investors will be keen to know whether the San Jose, CA-based company's current strategy, spearheaded by CEO Hock Tan—to grow through acquisitions as well as buying software assets that are struggling—is paying off.
Last year, Broadcom acquired Symantec (NASDAQ:NLOK)'s enterprise security division, which produces software to keep hackers out of corporate systems, for $10 billion. The acquisition marked Broadcom’s second big bet on software.
Sales in fiscal 2020, which ended in November, will be $25 billion, plus or minus $500 million, the company said in December. The projection was better than estimates from some analysts who had also factored in the contribution from Symantec.
Broadcom shares, which were part of the broad-based sell-off in chip stocks following the coronavirus outbreak, have fallen more than 14% this year. The stock closed at $269.45 on Friday.
2. Adobe Systems
Another stock reporting this coming week is Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE). The maker of Photoshop also releases its fiscal Q1 2020 earnings on Thursday, after the close. Wall Street expects $2.23 EPS and $3 billion of revenue.
In December, Adobe said it will slip below the 20% growth threshold in fiscal 2020, with revenue of about $13.15 billion. Sales will increase 17% in the first half of the year, and 18% in the second half.
Chief Executive Officer Shantanu Narayen has made several marketing and e-commerce product acquisitions in the past two years in order to boost revenue, which has climbed at least 20% each quarter since 2015.
Adobe, which competes with Salesforce.com (NYSE:NYSE:CRM) in both the marketing and e-commerce technology segments, is trying to facilitate growth by expanding its business offerings while strengthening its core, creative software business.
Adobe shares have fallen about 9% in the current market sell-off, after a powerful rally in the last 12 months year. The stock closed at $336.77 on Friday after falling more than 4%.
3. Exxon Mobil
Energy companies—led by the largest producer in the U.S., Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM)—are likely to see a further plunge in their share prices after OPEC and Russia, collectively known as OPEC+, failed to come up with a production cut agreement at a meeting in Vienna late last week, to boost oil prices and counter slowing demand.
OPEC+ ministers left the meeting Friday afternoon with no deal, raising the specter of a price war even as the coronavirus triggers a drop in demand that could end up being the steepest since the 1980s, according to Bloomberg.
Global benchmark Brent crude fell almost 9.0% on Friday, the biggest drop since the global financial crisis, triggering a 5% slide in Exxon Mobil shares, which closed at $47.69 to finish out the trading week, extending its 30% decline this year. The last time the Texas-based oil and gas E&P super major traded at this level was the middle of 2004.
That massive plunge has pushed the dividend yield on Exxon Mobil stock to about 7%, the highest its been since the mid-1990s, making it one of the richest yielding blue chip stocks on the S&P 500.