Stocks continued to gain lost ground during the past week, helped by rising expectations that the Federal Reserve is ready to cut interest rates on signs of weakness in economic growth.
The latest evidence came from retail sales, a measure of purchases at stores, restaurants and online, that rose less than expected in May. The release is the last major U.S. economic report before a meeting of the Fed’s policy-making committee this coming week. Escalating crisis in the Middle East after an attack on oil tankers near Iran helped energy stocks to register some gains.
Beyond these macro factors, the upcoming week is full of company-related events that could move the share prices of some big companies. Here are our three worth keeping an eye on:
1. Canopy Growth
Since the market's December low, the world’s largest marijuana producer, Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE:CGC), has almost doubled in value as the company expands its production, makes strategic alliances and captures significant market share in both its recreational and medical cannabis businesses.
Investors will get further evidence of the company’s dominance when it releases its fiscal 2019, fourth-quarter earnings report on June 20. Analysts on average are expecting $0.19 a share loss on sales of $67.74 million.
The Smiths Falls, Ontario-based producer, whose stock closed at $41.18 on Friday, is the largest marijuana company by market cap. It currently has a 30% share of Canada’s rapidly expanding recreational market. It also has the backing of alcoholic beverage giant Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ), which, in August acquired a 40% stake, putting the Canadian company on solid footing as it continues to grow.
Canopy reported an adjusted gross margin of 22% in the quarter ended Dec. 31 as it spent to build out new facilities and prepare for edible and beverage products that can’t be sold until later this year. The company expects to be EBITDA positive in the next 18 months.
2. Adobe
Another stock that could surprise investors this coming week is Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE). The maker of Photoshop releases its fiscal 2019, second-quarter earnings on Tuesday, June 18, after the close.
Analysts on average expect $1.78 a share profit on sales of $2.7 billion. In March, Adobe damped analyst hopes when it gave a profit forecast for the current quarter that fell short of Wall Street’s estimates.
Adobe, which competes with Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) in the marketing and e-commerce technology segment, is trying to boost growth by expanding its business offerings while strengthening its core, creative software business. The San Jose, CA-based company built its name around desktop publishing with products like Acrobat and developed and popularized the PDF file format, but has transitioned to a cloud-based, subscription business.
The software manufacturer expects a 25% increase in bookings in its digital-experience business, the corporate segment that includes the marketing, technology and data and analytics products. Adobe shares have had a powerful rally this year, surging more than 21%. They closed at $274.28 on Friday.
3. General Electric
America’s troubled industrial conglomerate, General Electric (NYSE:GE), will hold its GE Aviation & GECAS Investor Day presentation on Tuesday amid signs that the restructuring plan put in place by the company's new CEO, Larry Culp, is slowly gaining momentum.
GE shares, which closed at $10.23 on Friday, have surged more than 40% after losing two-thirds of their value in late December.
Investors will be keen to know whether GE’s efforts to generate cash are paying off. Culp had earlier warned that GE would burn as much as $2 billion in 2019. The company is trying to improve its cash flow and repair its balance-sheet after demand for its gas turbines and other products plunged.
The slump is one of the worst in the company’s 127-year history. Tuesday’s presentation is also important since it might help investors understand how badly GE’s aviation business is being hurt after Boeing’s grounding of its 737 MAX jetliner. GE, which makes jet engines for the Boeing MAX (NYSE:BA), called uncertainty around the plane’s grounding a “new risk.”