Equities wrapped another down week as investors remained concerned about the spreading COVID Delta variant and its impact on U.S. economic growth.
For the past week, the Dow finished roughly 2.2% lower, its second negative week in a row. The S&P 500 was off about 1.7% for the week, while the NASDAQ Composite slumped 1.6%. The Delta variant surge appears to have peaked in Florida and other states, a Wall Street Journal report said, though cases and hospitalizations are still rising in Kentucky, North Carolina and parts of the Midwest.
How quickly this variant gets under control, and how fast the economic recovery resumes, have significant implications for the performance of the US this fall and during the winter holiday season. Keeping this uncertain economic outlook in mind, we have put together a list of three stocks, below, which could dominate market activity this week.
1. Oracle
Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) will release its fiscal 2022, first quarter earnings report on Monday, Sept. 13, after the market close. Analysts are projecting $0.97 a share profit on sales of $9.76 billion.
The Austin, Texas-based tech company's shares have strengthened this year, on improving demand for the tech giant’s cloud computing services, after years of stagnant sales. The stock closed on Friday at $89.68, up 38% this year.
No surprise, the business segment has boosted growth prospects as well, as the company focuses on cloud computing as an accelerator of revenue growth at the world’s second-largest software maker.
ORCL plans to spend more on its cloud division as it tries to compete with other tech giants like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), both leading Oracle in this arena.
2. Apple
Shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) may remain under pressure this coming week after a federal judge, on Friday, ordered the company to change the way it operates its App Store business after being accused of 'monopolistic' behavior.
The stock fell 3.3% after the ruling, its biggest decline since May 4, erasing about $85 billion from the iPhone maker’s market capitalization. Shares closed on Friday at $148.97.
A federal judge granted an injunction sought by Epic Games, maker of Fortnight, which would allow developers to steer consumers to outside payment methods for mobile apps. It also ordered the game maker to pay damages to Apple for breach of contract.
“The high-profile case highlights a broader concern about online platforms and digital commerce. Regulators and lawmakers in Washington, Brussels and beyond are seeking to rein in big tech companies,” the Wall Street Journal said in a report.
3. Zoom Video
Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:ZM) will hold a briefing for financial analysts on Monday amid signs that the video-conferencing platform's pandemic era growth is coming to an end as schools and offices reopen.
Shares of the San Jose, California-based company are under pressure after management provided a sales forecast on Aug. 30 for the current quarter that fell short of some analysts’ estimates.
The stock closed on Friday at 301.50, down more than 10% for the year after having surged five-fold in 2020, when the use of its communication platform exploded in the midst of the pandemic. But that meteoric growth is slowing earlier than many analysts had forecast.
Zoom revenue rose 369% in the 2020 fiscal fourth quarter, 191% in the first quarter of 2021, and 54% in the three months that ended July 31. The company’s forecasts indicate sales may increase just 15% in the fiscal fourth quarter.