The market sank on Friday with the major averages registering the biggest gain in one day of the year , to close out a turbulent week for the financial markets.
To highlight this extraordinary volatility In a stark contrast to the market’s index that is the benchmark S&P 500 index reported an intraday range of at minimum 2.2 percent for every day of the week.
The week ahead is likely to be another one of the busiest with more earnings coming from top tech companies like Google’s parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) the parent of Facebook, Meta Platforms, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL), Snap (NYSE:SNAP), Spotify (NYSE:SPOT), and Pinterest (NYSE:PINS).
Other, well-known companies in the fields of discretionary and industrial like Exxon Mobil, Ford (NYSE:F), General Motors (NYSE:GM), United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS), Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) as well as ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) are also scheduled to announce their most recent results.
In addition, there are important economic data that is coming to us such as the latest ISM PMI surveys, as well as an important U.S. employment report on Friday, and the upcoming week is likely to be full of activity.
Whatever direction the market takes here’s a look at the one that is likely to be popular and one that could experience some further losses.
Be aware that the time frame is not a guideline for the coming week.
Stock To Buy: Exxon Mobil
After announcing one of the most successful starts to the year the Exxon Mobil’s (NYSE: XOM) shares could witness more buying activity over the coming week as investors are looking forward to strong financial results for the fourth quarter that are from one largest energy companies.
Consensus forecasts suggest the Irving Texas-based oil-andgas gas company to report profits per share $1.93 when it announces its Q4 results prior to the bell that goes off on Tuesday, February. 1. The number is up over 6000% over the an EPS of $0.03 during the year-long period of uncertainty.
The company’s revenue is expected to rise around 83 percent over the course of the year and reach $85.0 billion as the company profit from higher commodities prices, a rise in global demand, and more efficient operations.
If it is confirmed, Exxon’s quarter-end profits and sales figures will be the energy giant’s most profitable year since 2014, which reflects an impressive recovery from negative effects on the pandemic of coronavirus. The biggest U.S. energy producer suffered huge losses of $22.4 billion, despite the decline in oil prices and the low demand across the globe.
Beyond the top and bottom-line figures Investors will be keen to learn if the “Big Oil’ company plans to give more cash back to shareholders in the form greater stock buybacks and dividend payments.
Exxon’s board of directors previously announced that, beginning in 2022 it will commence an equity repurchase program that will cost at least $10 billion over the next 12-24 months. The board also approved the first dividend hike in over two years, which is a reflection of how the energy sector has performed in the current market. Exxon currently pays an annualized yield in the amount of $3.52 per share with a comparatively high yield of 4.68 percent.
Exxon Mobil — which has risen 23% in the year to date has been a top performance in the energy market this year, gaining in 14 of the initial 19 trading sessions in 2022.
XOM shares, that surged by $76.01 on Thursday, achieving its highest level since July 2019. It closed the session on Friday at $75.28. Based on the current market valuation, Exxon has a market value in the range of $318.7 billion.
Stock To Sell: Meta Platforms
The parent company of Facebook Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: FB) is likely to experience another volatile week as investors wait for negative figures from this giant of social media, to be announced following when the U.S. market closes on Wednesday, February. 2.
The shares of Menlo Park, California-based company are off to a rough start in 2022, sagging almost 11% to date this year, despite a decline in a number of top-rated tech companies because of concerns about federal reserve plans for raising rates of interest.
The stock, which fell to a 10-month record low $289.01 at the beginning of January. 24– closed in at $301.71 the previous day, around 21.5 percent below its all-time high in September. At the moment, Meta is valued at $839.2 billion, which makes it the fifth-highest valued company by the U.S. stock market.
Analysts expect the fourth quarter’s earnings per share to be $3.85 which is down about one percent from $3.88 in the same quarter one year ago due to increased costs and investments in Meta’s hardware segment and Virtual Reality (VR) segment. If it is confirmed, it would be the company’s first loss in over two years.
Revenue is projected to increase 19% year-over-year to $33.3 billion due to a rise in the demand for advertising and higher rates for ads for Facebook and Instagram as well as Instagram, which suffered a setback following privacy reforms made to the iPhone’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iOS operating system last year.
In the very first instance in its past history Meta has decided to integrate its “Facebook Reality Labs”–which is focused on consumer hardware , including Oculus virtual reality headsets — into its own segment of reporting. It will also publish statistics on the growth of its “Family of Apps’ unit, that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger as well as WhatsApp.
Additionally, investors will concentrate on comments made on the call following earnings announcements by the CEO Mark Zuckerberg regarding Meta’s big investment to develop and build the metaverse, which is a virtual world simulation seen as the next version of internet.
