👉 Apple's Ready for "Glowtime"

Welcome to your new week.

Major congrats to all of the Dell Technologies (DELL) and Palantir (PLTR) investors as they will be joining the S&P 500 — replacing American Airlines (AAL) and Etsy (ETSY).

Key Earnings Announcements:

Earnings season is still in-stride with Academy Sports & Outdoors, Adobe, GameStop, Kroger, and Oracle.

Monday (9/9): Abivax, Mission, Oracle, Rubrik, Skillsoft

Tuesday (9/10): Academy Sports & Outdoors, Cognyte, Dave & Busters, GameStop, Petco

Wednesday (9/11): Manchester United, Vera Bradley

Thursday (9/12): Adobe, Kroger, Lovesac, RH

Friday (9/13): N/A

What We’re Watching:

1) Adobe (ADBE)

Adobe (-5.6% YTD) will release its Q3 FY24 earnings on Thursday, with its MAX Creativity Conference and Analyst Day following on October 14-16. Key areas to watch include Adobe's growth potential from generative AI (genAI) and its positioning against competitors like Canva and Figma.

Canva is emerging as a strong competitor, but it's unlikely to challenge Adobe’s dominance among professional creatives in the near term. Meanwhile, Adobe Express is gaining ground in the lower-tier market – focusing on innovation to compete with Canva's growing market share.

• Analysts expect $3.50 GAAP EPS on Revenue of $5.37 billion.

• You can explore the most recent ADBE investor release here and here.

2) Kroger (KR)

On Thursday — Kroger (+14.3% YTD) posts its quarterly earnings. Kroger’s proposed $25 billion merger with Albertsons (ACI) could significantly expand its presence and scale — transforming the U.S. grocery market.

With Albertsons' strong foothold in the West & Northeast, Kroger would enhance its reach and serve millions of new customers. The deal is expected to generate around $1 billion in “annual run-rate synergies” within four years by streamlining supply chains and operations, potentially offering customers lower prices and better service.

The merger is crucial for both companies to compete against giants like Walmart (WMT), Amazon (AMZN), and Costco (COST) — which dominate the industry with vast resources and consistent innovation. While the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is currently reviewing the deal, investors are closely watching whether this merger will create a long-term upward trend for Kroger or if market dynamics will prompt a decline.

• Analysts expect $0.92 GAAP EPS on Revenue of $34.11 billion.

• You can explore the most recent KR investor release here and here.

Investor Events / Global Affairs

Big events from Apple, Goldman Sachs, AND Microsoft.

• Apple (AAPL) “It’s Glowtime” Event

At Apple's "It's Glowtime" event on September 9, 2024, expect the new iPhone 16 models, featuring Action and Capture Buttons, a more power-efficient OLED display, and camera improvements for low-light and spatial video.

The iPhone 16 Pro models may include a 48MP Ultra-Wide lens and 4K video recording at up to 120 frames per second, along with a larger display size and enhanced AI-powered features. Apple Watch Series 10 will debut with a thinner design, improved health sensors, and better battery life. New AirPods 4 models will also launch, offering Active Noise Cancellation and a USB-C charging port.

• Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference 2024

The Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference 2024 is an annual event organized by Goldman Sachs that brings together leaders from the communications, media, and technology sectors. It serves as a platform for companies to present their latest innovations, financial updates, and growth strategies, while investors and industry analysts gain insights into trends shaping these industries.

• Microsoft (MSFT) Cybersecurity Conference

Microsoft is hosting the Windows Endpoint Security Ecosystem Summit at its Redmond, Washington campus. The event will gather top security companies and government representatives to discuss vulnerabilities that emerged following the CrowdStrike (CRWD) July software update debacle.

Major Economic Events

Updates on inflation for consumers, inflation for producers, and consumer sentiment are all coming this week.

Monday (9/9): Consumer Credit, Wholesale Inventories

Tuesday (9/10): Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr on Bank Reform, NFIB Optimism Index

Wednesday (9/11): Consumer Price Index (CPI), Core CPI

Thursday (9/12): Initial Jobless Claims, Producer Price Index (PPI), Core PPI, Monthly US Federal Budget

Friday (9/13): Consumer Sentiment (Final), Import Price Index

What We’re Watching:

1) Consumer Price Index (CPI)

In July 2024, the U.S. CPI rose by +0.2% month-over-month, recovering from a -0.1% decline in June and meeting market expectations. Shelter prices, up +0.4%, contributed to nearly 90% of the increase.

According to MarketWatch, the median forecast for this week’s release is a +2.6% year-over-year CPI increase and +3.2% Core CPI increase.

2) Consumer Sentiment

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment for August 2024 was revised up to 67.9 from 67.8 but fell short of the 68 expected.

The current conditions index improved to 61.3 from 60.9 – while the expectations index remained at 72.1. Year-ahead inflation expectations were revised down to 2.8% from 2.9%  — with the five-year outlook steady at 3%.

According to MarketWatch, the median forecast for this week’s consumer sentiment update is a slight improvement from 67.9 to 68.5.

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