Earnings results from major retailers in the coming weeks will test the strength of the U.S. stock market rally, as investors gain insight into the health of consumer spending and the fallout on company bottom lines from inflation.
“The retail sales numbers were reasonably strong, and we want to see that confirmation come from the retailers themselves,” said Paul Nolte, market strategist at Murphy and Sylvest Wealth Management. The S&P 500 has gained 6.5% so far in 2023 as of Thursday, with stocks bouncing back from a brutal performance last year.
“We expect HD and WMT’s tone on guidance and the consumer to be cautious at best,” the JPMorgan analysts wrote in an earnings preview note this week. They rate Walmart shares “neutral” and Home Depot as “overweight.”Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel, said he will be watching to see if retailers have been able to push up prices to match their costs.
Investors next week will also focus on Wednesday’s release of minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting, when the central bank scaled back its rate hikes to a quarter-point after a year of heftier raises.