The big banks brought their A-game in Q4. Earnings reports from the likes of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) (NYSE:MS) all beat estimates, instilling confidence that the Financials sector earned its 28% performance (beating the S&P 500) in 2024. A strong start to the reporting period came after mixed, but fairly upbeat, early-quarter conferences.
AI & Quantum
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. Volatility has continued in those stocks.
Health Care Handshakes
Then the JP Morgan 43rd Annual Healthcare Conference featured M&A news from the likes of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Europe’s GSK (GSK). After a business update, shares of Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) endured their worst day in almost four years after the biggest company in the healthcare sector reported lacklustre sales in its GLP-1 weight-loss drug Zepbound.
Consumer Trends at ICR and NRF
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. The National Retail Federation’s New York City event underscored that there is no retail without humans, however. Elsewhere, Target (NYSE: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.
An Active Calendar
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
February 12: Alliance Global Partners (NYSE:GLP) AGP Technology Conference (virtual)
February 26: Wolfe March Madness Software Conference
February 26: Bernstein 3rd Annual Tech, Media & Telecom Forum
February 27: Susquehanna 14th Annual Technology Conference
March 3: The Citizens JMP Technology Conference
March 4: Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom (BCBA:TECO2m) (TMT) Conference
March 5: Bitcoin Ski Summit
March 10: Deutsche Bank 33rd Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference
March 11: Stifel NYC Technology One-on-One Conference
March 12: Citi TMT Conference
Health Care
February 5: Guggenheim Healthcare Talks 7th Annual Biotechnology Conference
March 3: TD Cowen 45th Annual Healthcare Conference
March 10: Leerink Global Healthcare Conference
March 11: Barclays 27th Annual Global Healthcare Conference
March 11: Carnegie Healthcare Seminar
March 17: Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT) Week
March 27: Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO)
Consumer Discretionary & Consumer Staples
January 23: National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show
February 17: Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) Conference
March 19: Palm Beach International Boat Show
Financials & Real Estate
February 10: UBS Financial Services Conference
February 11: Bank of America US Financial Services Conference
March 3: Citi Global Real Estate Property CEO Conference
March 4: RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference
March 11: Wolfe Research Fintech Forum
Industrials
February 18: Citi Global Industrial Tech and Mobility Conference
February 19: Barclays 42nd Annual Industrial Select Conference
March 5: Disasters Expo USA
March 11: JP Morgan Industrials Conference
March 18: Bank of America Global Industrials Conference
Energy & Utilities
February 17: Bank of America Infrastructure Day
February 26: Scotiabank 53rd Annual Energy Conference
February 26: Canaccord Genuity Sustainability Summit (virtual)
February 28: Susquehanna Alternative Energy Virtual Symposium (virtual)
March 4: Jefferies Power, Utilities and Clean Energy Conference
March 6: Morgan Stanley Global Energy & Power Conference
March 10: CERA Week
March 17: Piper Sandler 25th Annual Energy Conference
Materials
February 23: BMO Capital Markets 33rd Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference
February 25: Bank of America Global Agriculture and Materials Conference
March 12: BNP Paribas Consumer Ingredients and Chemical Conference
Regional
January 28: UBS Latin America Investment Conference
February 6: Morgan Stanley Argentina Equity Conference
February 14: Citi India Investor Conference
February 17: J.P. Morgan Taiwan CEO-CFO Conference
February 19: Bank of America Securities Argentina Conference
February 24: JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets FI Conference
March 3: Morgan Stanley European Healthcare Conference
March 5: UBS European Healthcare Conference
March 18: Jefferies 6th Asia Forum
Investor Specific & Multi-Sector
January 20: World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting
January 22: Sidoti January Micro-Cap Conference (virtual)
January 28: Jefferies SMid Cap Consumer Conference
February 24: JP Morgan Global High Yield & Leveraged Finance Conference
February 25: Oppenheimer 10th Annual Emerging Growth Conference (virtual)
March 2: Raymond James & Associates 46th Annual Institutional Investors Conference
March 12: JP Morgan - European Opportunities Forum
March 18: Morgan Stanley European Financials Conference
March 19: Sidoti March Small Cap Conference (virtual)