US equity markets are likely to remain volatile in the coming week as investors turn their attention to the Fed's interest rate policy amid speculation that the central bank could be tightened soon. Speeches showed that the bank could gradually reduce its USD 120 billion in bond purchases as the economic recovery continues.
A similar message could come from their annual Economic Policy Symposium, which is scheduled for Thursday. Fed Chair Powell's speech is typically the highlight of the annual event, and several Fed Chairs have used the Jackson Hole, Wyoming meeting to send important messages.
Apart from the direction of monetary policy, investors will also follow earnings releases from some of the top US companies, which are among the last to report in the current cycle. Here are three we follow:
1. Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com (NYSE:), which sells enterprise software and cloud-based customer relationship management services to enterprise customers, will report its quarterly results on Wednesday, August 25. after the market closes. The software vendor is expected to report $6.24 billion in revenue and $0.92 in earnings per share.
In May, the San Francisco-based company issued a statement saying its annual profits would exceed analyst estimates, suggesting companies emerging from the pandemic are making more purchases.
As many companies expect at least some of their employees to remain remote, and tasks such as sales calls to be continued via teleconferencing technology, Salesforce customers are accelerating a step to modernize software.
This beneficial result growth environment comes as Salesforce further strengthened its position by acquiring Tableau in 2019 and MuleSoft in the previous year. Salesforce is in the process of acquiring Slack Technologies for $27.7 billion, an acquisition intended to drive revenue growth of more than 25% per year.
In the past quarter, Salesforce stock is up about 16%, outperforming the tech-heavy Index. It closed on Friday at $256.13.
2. Best Buy
Best Buy (NYSE:), the big-box electronics and technology retailer with stores in the US and Canada, will announce Q2 results on Tuesday, August 24 before the market opens. According to the analyst consensus, the retailer is expected to report earnings per share of $1.89 per share and $11.49 billion in revenue.
Shares of BBY have continued to be under pressure over the past quarter over concerns about whether the retailer can witness the pandemic as the US economy reopens after a year of lockdowns.
While demand for its goods remains above normal, "there is a high degree of uncertainty regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, making it difficult to predict how sustainable these trends will be." Chief Financial Officer Matt Bilunas told investors this year.
Best Buy shares, which fell about 2% in the quarter, closed at $112.63 on Friday.
3. Dell Technologies
Dell Technologies (NYSE:) will announce second quarter 2022 results on Thursday, August 26 after the close. Analysts expect earnings per share of $2.03 on revenue of more than $25.54 billion.
The Round Rock, Texas-based IT products and services provider due to strong demand for employee and student personal computers to provide home shelter during the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, however, sales from corporate customers have suffered from the recession caused by the virus. Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell is trying to reduce his eponymous company's reliance on one-time hardware sales. Instead, he aims to turn it into a vendor of subscription-based computer services. At this point, DELL still gets about half of its revenue from PC purchases by businesses and consumers. Shares of Dell are up 36% this year, closing at $98.50 on Friday.
