MarketBeat Week in Review – 4/17 - 4/21

Markets ended the week on a down note and are closing with a narrow weekly loss. Investors seem resigned to the likelihood of another one or more rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. But it’s more likely that the markets are just range bound and are likely to continue to bounce around at that level for some time. Earnings have come in mostly better than expected, but this is a time when just good enough isn’t good enough.

Next week will be a week when corporate earnings start to pour in. And on Friday, investors will get the latest reading on inflation when the PCE index is released. You can count on the MarketBeat team to be on top of what these corporate earnings mean for your money. Here are some of the most popular articles from this week. 

Articles by Jea Yu 

As part of our explainer series, Jea Yu did a deep dive on Bank of America Co. NYSE: BAC to explain to investors why the bank may or may not be a good buy for investors. Yu provides a history of the bank as well as the factors that could impact the stock in 2023. Yu was also writing about Digital Realty Trust NYSE: DLR which is a real estate investment trust (REIT). Investors always have to consider the kind of exposure a REIT has. Digital Realty is the eighth largest REIT with heavy exposure to the data center market which gives the company a wide moat. And in recent weeks, many weight loss drug companies have been making headlines. Yu looks at the overall market and highlights two top companies taking a leadership position in this sector.  

Articles by Thomas Hughes 

The semiconductor segment is always closely watched as an indicator of future demand in multiple sectors. This week, Thomas Hughes gave investors a look at the two chip stocks that are drawing bullish attention from analysts, suggesting they could lead the way this earnings season. Speaking of analyst ratings, they can be a useful predictor of earnings performance.

And that seems to be the case for PepsiCo Inc. NASDAQ: PEP which reports earnings next week but received a bullish upgrade from JPMorgan Chase & Co. NYSE: JPM that suggests an earnings surprise may be in the works. And it wouldn’t be a week if Hughes didn’t check in on Mullen Automotive NYSE: MULN. The stock is trading at around ten cents a share and its record high of $1 per share seems like a distant memory. The issue, as Hughes notes, is one of overpromising and underdelivering.   

Articles by Sam Quirke 

Sam Quirke had his eye on three companies delivering earnings reports that had the potential to be market movers. The week started out with Charles Schwab Corporation NASDAQ: SCHW delivering a report that seemed to put to bed any thoughts of a worst-case scenario. Shares rallied hard on the news. Then there was Netflix Inc. NASDAQ: NFLX which delivered mixed results that gave investors, at least initially, a reason to sell. Specifically, revenue seems to be growing more slowly than investors would like. However, shares seem to be rallying as the week comes to an end.

And then there’s Tesla Inc. NASDAQ: TSLA which saw its shares drop nearly 8% after it delivered its earnings report. In a heavily shorted market, it’s not going to take much to excite the bears and Tesla’s lower margins was all that it took to send the stock lower.  

Articles by Chris Markoch  

Buying high-yielding dividend stocks that are undervalued give you a chance for your best total return. And this week Chris Markoch gave investors three stock picks of companies that have a dividend yield of at least 5%. If investors are looking for stocks that allow them to ride the hot hand, few sectors have as much potential as defense stocks. Markoch writes about Lockheed Martin Corporation NYSE: LMT that is getting upgraded by analysts after a bullish earnings report. And for more speculative investors, Amyris, Inc. NASDAQ: AMRS is a small-cap stock that is a leader in lab-to-market technology, but is being heavily shorted.  

Articles by Kate Stalter 

One sector where investors can frequently find high-yield dividend stocks is in the energy sector. And this week, Kate Stalter highlighted three of those stocks. And, as Stalter writes, each of these companies have at least one reason for investors to believe that they are not buying into a value trap. Stalter was also looking at the continuing stickiness of revenge travel.

Specifically, she writes about three hotel stocks that are showing strong revenue growth over the last few months and may continue to benefit from a resurgence in business travel. One company that doesn’t have to seem to worry about being dismissed as a passing fad is Lululemon Athletic Inc. NASDAQ: LULU. As Stalter writes, the stock just gave off a bullish technical signal and continues to be a bright spot in an otherwise fairly dull retail sector.  

Articles by MarketBeat Staff 

An emerging story in the commodities market is the expectations for much higher demand in copper prices. And one rumor that is impacting the market is the potential acquisition of Teck Resources Limited NYSE: TECK by the Swiss commodity company, Glencore. If the two companies were to merge the combined company would be the third-largest copper producer in the world. But so far, Teck is rejecting the offer but that hasn’t stopped investors from bidding up shares to a 12-year high. The staff was also writing about the jump in Vaxcyte, Inc. NASDAQ: PCVX after its VAX-24 candidate for invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) received Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).