Wall Street Breakfast: The Week Ahead

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Economic reports in the week ahead

The second quarter is off to a blazing start with the S&P 500 Index pushing above 4,000 on the heels of President Biden's infrastructure plan update. In the week ahead, the market focus may turn to whether Congress will pass the infrastructure plan that includes $2T in spending and higher corporate taxes. Economists at Jefferies estimate Biden's infrastructure plan overall could add 0.5 to 1 percentage points to their estimate of 5.2% growth in U.S. gross domestic product in 2022. Chips will also be in the spotlight next week, with events on tap for Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) amid growing worries on the global chip shortage.

There is a very light schedule of earnings reports next week. The list of reporters includes Greenbrier (NYSE:GBX) and Lindsay (NYSE:LNN) on April 6; Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) and Carnival (NYSE:CCL) on April 7, Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) and Levi Strauss (NYSE:LEVI) on April 8 and JinkoSolar Holding (NYSE:JKS) on April 9.

Inspira Technologies Oxy B.H.N. (IINN) could price its IPO next week. The Israel-based medtech company is selling 2.8M shares. The analyst quiet period expires on Coupang (NYSE:CPNG) and First High-School Education (NYSE:FHS) on April 5, as well as Joann (JOANN), Hayward (NYSE:HAYW), Prometheus Bio (NASDAQ:RXDX) and Longboard Pharma (NASDAQ:LBPH) on April 6. Notable IPO lockup expirations include Presidio Property (NASDAQ:SQFT) on April 5, Aziyo Bioogics (NASDAQ:AZYO) on April 6 and Kronos Bio (NASDAQ:KRON) on April 7. Across the Pacific, Trip.com (NASDAQ:TRIP) could launch a secondary listing in Hong Kong that reportedly could be valued at more than $1B.

Projected dividend increases (quarterly): The list of companies expected to increase their dividend payouts includes Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) to $1.08 from $1.03 and HB Fuller (NYSE:FUL) to $0.165 from $0.1625.

The tender offer on the Pluralsight (NASDAQ:PS)-Vista deal expires on April 5. Shareholders vote on the Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX) acquisition by AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) on April 7.

Satellite-to-smartphone broadband company AST & Science (ASTS) expects to close its SPAC merger next week with New Providence. The new company will be called AST SpaceMobile. AST is building a network of satellites that is designed to deliver broadband from space directly to consumer smartphones. AST expects to bring in about $462M from the SPAC deal.

Major events next week include Intel (INTC) Ice Lake server chip reveal on April 6 and an investor day for Applied Materials (AMAT) on the same day. Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN), Lee Enterprises (NYSE:LEE), CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) and CytomX Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CTMX) are also hosting investor events.

Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) launches a new chicken sandwich at all U.S. Shake Shack locations. The new menu offering is Korean-style Fried Chick’n made with crispy chicken breast glazed with Gochujang sauce on top of a white kimchi slaw, topped with toasted sesame seeds, sandwiched on a bun. The chicken sandwich follows new offerings in the category from McDonald's and Wendy's. All three are trying to take market share away from Popeyes and Chick-Fil-A.

The March sales numbers are due in for products sold at grocery stores, convenience stores and other retail outlets. The most interesting categories for investors to watch will be the shakeout in hard seltzer (White Claw, Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM), Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD), Molson Coors (NYSE:TAP), Constellations Brands (NYSE:STZ)) and energy drinks (Red Bull, Bang, Pepsi (NASDAQ:PEP), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ:CELH)).

Conferences rundown: Notable conferences running during the week include the Wells Fargo Biotech Corporate Access Day 2021, the CIBC Real Estate Conference, the EnerCom Dallas Energy Investment & ESG Conference, the Cowen Consumer Platforms for the Next Generation Summit and the Wells Fargo Future Mobility Conference 2021.

Go Deeper: Check out Seeking Alpha's Catalyst Watch for a detailed list of events to watch

Barron's mentions

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is seen as a value play with shares trading just 26X earnings estimates for the next 12 months vs. the historical average of 32X. It is also noted that Facebook ended 2020 with no debt and $62B worth of cash on its balance sheet, which could free it up to fire off more buybacks or pay a dividend. WW International (NASDAQ:WW) is also sized up favorably this week. Analysts expect the workshops business to bounce back as more people are vaccinated to help boost sales and the digital business is seen staying popular. Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) also gets a callout. Shares are labeled inexpensive after fallen down by over a third from their summer peak to trade at 15X projected 2021. This year’s free-cash-flow yield for GOLD is projected to be close to 10%.

Sources: EDGAR, Bloomberg, CNBC, The Verge, Renaissance Capital