Here we go with another edition of the Money & Markets Week Ahead, where we help you prepare for what’s hitting financial markets soon.
It’s a big week for initial public offerings (IPOs) as another highly-anticipated company prepares to go public.
Investors will also get a look at data on home sales and sentiment in the manufacturing and services sector of the economy.
Here are some things investors should watch on Wall Street next week:
On the IPO Front
There is one notable IPO scheduled for this week.
Palantir Technologies is expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PLTR.
It is expected to list on the exchange on Wednesday.
What’s interesting is that the company is going public with a direct listing and won’t use any investment banks to underwrite it — similar to Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK).
What is Palantir: The company made its name developing defense and intelligence analysis software. But it has also marketed a central operating system for siloed data.
Its software is used in 150 different countries by governments and industries. Its government sales are confined to western-based countries.
Investors have already dropped more than $2 billion — including UBS and Disruptive Technology Solutions.
The financial skinny: According to its S-1 filing, the company’s total revenue for the six months ending June 30, 2020 was $481.2 million — a 49% increase over the same time a year ago.
In 2019, the company’s total revenue was $742.5 million.
Palantir has also grown its profit margin.
For the first six months of 2020, its profits were $348.5 million — a 57.5% increase over the same time a year ago.
For all of 2019, Palantir reported a profit of $500 million.
But it has yet to actually turn a profit.
In terms of its IPO, the company is notoriously secretive. There is no price range for the offering, nor is there an expected amount of money to be raised by it.
For a little context: Snowflake — a data storage and analytics company — went public last week and reached a valuation of $80 billion — making it the largest software IPO in history.
But it opened the next day down nearly 10%.
Money & Markets Week Ahead: Data Dump
The National Association of Realtors will release its existing home sales report for the month of August on Tuesday.
This report tracks the sales of existing homes, not those under construction. The new home sales report will come out on Friday.
Last time out: In July, existing home sales rose 24.7% over the previous month.
It was the second consecutive month for significant sales gains in the market.
On Wednesday, IHS Markit will unveil their purchase manager’s index for manufacturing and for services.
This is a survey of managers in those fields to determine overall sentiment in the market.
Last time out: In August, the manufacturing index was 53.1 — showing a slight increase in sentiment. A reading of 50 or above indicates expansion while 49 and below indicates contraction.
August’s reading was slightly lower than the 53.6 initially projected for the month.
The services index was a bit stronger at 55 for August.
Weekly jobless claims will be released by the Labor Department on Friday.
Earnings Reports
To finish off the Money & Markets Week Ahead, here’s a look at some of the key earnings reports due out next week:
Monday
Pintec Technology Holdings Ltd. (Nasdaq: PT)
Tuesday
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) — Remember, I covered Aurora in a recent episode of our Marijuana Market Update. To watch that, click here.
AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO)
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE)
Stitch Fix Inc. (Nasdaq: SFIX)
Wednesday
Cintas Corp. (Nasdaq: CTAS)
General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS)
Thursday
CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX)
Costco Wholesale Corp. (Nasdaq: COST)
Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD)
Friday
Natuzzi SpA (NYSE: NTZ)
That’s all for this week.
Until next time…
Safe trading,
Matt Clark
Research Analyst, Money & Markets
Matt Clark is the research analyst for Money & Markets. He’s the host of our podcast, The Bull & The Bear, as well as the Marijuana Market Update. Before joining the team, he spent 25 years as an investigative journalist and editor — covering everything from politics to business.
