The big banks brought their A-game in Q4. Earnings reports from the likes of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), and Morgan Stanley (MS) all beat estimates, instilling confidence that the Financials sector earned its 28% performance (beating the S&P 500) in 2024.[1] A strong start to the reporting period came after mixed, but fairly upbeat, early-quarter conferences.
The conference season kicked off at CES with a keynote from NVIDIA's (NASDAQ:NVDA) Jensen Huang, and his speech initially lifted shares of the megacap, but sellers emerged once NVDA notched all-time highs above $150. AI was of course the hot talk of CES, but Jensen poured some cold water over the quantum computing niche of the tech sector. Shares of Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI), D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS), and IONQ (NYSE:IONQ) plunged Wednesday, January 8, after cautious comments from Jensen regarding the pace of quantum computing's progress.[2] Volatility has continued in those stocks.
Then the JP Morgan 43rd Annual Healthcare Conference featured M&A news from the likes of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Europe's GSK (NYSE:GSK).[3] After a business update, shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) endured their worst day in almost four years after the biggest company in the Health Care sector reported lackluster sales in its GLP-1 weight-loss drug Zepbound.[4]
And let's not forget about the consumer. Last week's ICR Conference in Orlando shed light on how tech and AI are making inroads into improving restaurant experiences and increasing efficiency among quick-service eating establishments. Another trend highlighted was the ongoing focus on value meals in the fast-food space.[5] The National Retail Federation's New York City event underscored that there is no retail without humans, however.[6] Elsewhere, Target (TGT) offered positive preliminary earnings on Thursday, January 16, but shares ended the day lower, casting a small cloud over what was, by most measures, a strong holiday shopping season.
So, it's already been an eventful conference season, and we expect more market-moving industry insights, potential dealmaking, and clues on how AI is going from a cool idea to real monetization. These are topics that should appeal to both shareholders and consumers. It really is an exciting time across sectors; gone are the days of focusing on negatives like public health (hopefully the Bird Flu doesn't get worse...), supply chain problems, and even political uncertainty (to an extent).
There are always risks to watch out for, though. Macro concerns like much higher interest rates today compared with just six months ago, a strong US dollar, and global oil prices that now flirt with $80 could threaten US companies' earnings. And while we know the makeup of DC, tariffs and tax policy are in flux today.
From the macro to the micro, these are just some of the topics that will be discussed for the rest of the quarter on the conference circuit. Corporate gatherings in the weeks to come provide an insightful backdrop as the Q4 earnings season rolls on. Here are the major events to mark on your calendar:
Information Technology & Communication Services
Health Care
Consumer Discretionary & Consumer Staples
Financials & Real Estate
Industrials
Energy & Utilities
Materials
Regional
Investor Specific & Multi-Sector
1 All US stock market earnings announcements, TradingView, January 22, 2025, https://www.tradingview.com2 The crazy ride in quantum computing stocks continues as shares rip higher on Microsoft's 'quantum-ready' directive, CNBC, Samantha Subin, January 15, 2025, https://www.cnbc.com3 By the numbers: J&J, GSK lead J.P. Morgan deal announcements in 2025, the largest turnout in years, PharmaVoice, Michael Gibney, January 15, 2025, https://www.pharmavoice.com4 Lilly shares on track for worst day since 2021 after downbeat Zepbound sales forecast, Reuters, Bhanvi Satija, Patrick Wingrove, January 14, 2025, https://www.reuters.com5 ICR takeaways: Efficiency, value adjustments, smaller boxes, cautious optimism, Nation's Restaurant News, Alicia Kelso, Joanna Fantozzi, January 16, 2025, https://www.nrn.com6 Earnings Insight, FactSet, John Butters, January 10, 2025, At NRF, 40,000 humans contemplate AI, Retail Dive, Daphne Howland, January 16, 2025, https://www.retaildive.com
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