US trade tariffs and geopolitical risks continue to occupy much of investor's attention but results from chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), among others, in the coming week will also be in the spotlight.
Back in the UK, investors will be hoping that the latest results from British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG.L) can provide a further boost to its already stellar share price growth over the past year.
Investors are always keen to know which stocks legendary investor Buffet is backing through his firm Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B).
A recent US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing disclosed that Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) held a 5.6 million share stake in drinks giant Constellation Brands (STZ) as of the end of 2024. This stake has made it the sixth-largest shareholder in the company, whose brands include Mexico-produced beer labels Corona and Modelo. However, given that Constellation (STZ) imports its beers from Mexico, US president Donald Trump's threat of 25% tariffs is weighing on the stock.
Lee Munson, president and CIO of Portfolio Wealth Advisors, told Yahoo Finance that "a lot of this stems from the huge sale of Apple that he did last year and he just has a bunch of cash and is slow to get it to use."
"So I think that what it really says is that this a momentum market, it's hard to find good value right now and I think that Buffet is [taking] his time, but I don't think we should think just because he has a lot of cash it means the market is ready to fall per se," he added.
Berkshire Hathway (BRK-B) shares have been trading around record highs, with the stock up 18% over the past year.
In its third quarter results, the firm reported net earnings of $26.3bn (£20.8bn), which was up from a loss of $12.8bn in the previous year. Investors will be looking to see if Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) has continued this earnings growth in the fourth quarter, when the firm releases its annual report on Saturday.
NYSE - Delayed Quote • USD At close: February 21 at 4:02:40 PM EST
Nvidia (NVDA) is set to release its latest quarterly results next Wednesday, concluding the earnings season for the Magnificent 7.
The chipmaker has a history of surpassing its quarterly guidance, though last quarter's performance was less remarkable, raising modest concerns about a potential slowdown in spending in the artificial intelligence sector. Analysts are particularly focused on demand for Nvidia's (NVDA) AI chips.
"Recent signals, including massive investment plans from the big tech giants, suggest Nvidia’s (NVDA) cutting-edge chips remain in hot demand," Hargreaves Lansdown senior equity analyst Matt Britzman said. "With AI central to its growth story, the rollout of its latest Blackwell chips will take centre stage where supply constraints held things back a touch in the prior quarter."
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Nvidia's (NVDA) Blackwell architecture is the company's latest innovation in AI and data centre technology. These advanced chips are designed to enhance performance and efficiency for complex AI tasks. They feature a dual-die design connected by a high-speed link, allowing them to function as a unified, powerful processor. This architecture aims to handle demanding workloads more effectively, providing faster and more reliable AI processing capabilities.
In the third quarter, Nvidia (NVDA) reported revenue of $35.1bn, which was up 94% year-on-year, while diluted earnings per share had increased by 111% to $0.78. For the final quarter of its fiscal year, Nvidia guided revenue of $37.5bn, plus or minus 2%.
Britzman said expectations of strong revenue growth year-on-year highlighted Nvidia’s (NVDA) impressive momentum, but noted that margins will also be under scrutiny.
"Costs tied to Blackwell’s ramp-up could put some pressure on gross margins, with any dip below the guided 73.5% mark likely to ruffle a few feathers," Britzman said. "Investors will also be keen to hear more about Nvidia’s (NVDA) push into robotics and self-driving, where CEO Jensen Huang sees a multi-trillion-dollar market emerging.”
NasdaqGS - Delayed Quote • USD At close: February 21 at 4:00:01 PM EST
Salesforce (CRM) is also set to announce its fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, next week. Despite a sluggish stock performance since reaching a record high in early December, Salesforce's valuation remains elevated, with its share price nearly doubling over the past two years.
In the third quarter, Salesforce (CRM) posted 8% revenue growth to $9.44bn and diluted earnings per share of $1.58.
Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman noted that Salesforce (CRM) enters the fourth quarter with momentum following a challenging start to the year. He attributed the slowdown in revenue growth to a difficult macroeconomic environment.
Read more: Stocks that are trending today
Salesforce (CRM) guided to fourth quarter revenue in the range of $9.9bn and $10.1bn, which would be up between 7% and 9% year-on-year. For the full-year, the company raised its low end of revenue guidance to $37.8bn and $38bn, would represent growth of between 8% and 9% on the 2024 fiscal year.
"Investors will be looking out for commentary on customers’ willingness to spend in the current environment, as well as looking to guidance for the new year," he said.
A key focus of the upcoming earnings call will be updates on Agentforce 2.0, Britzman noted. Salesforce's (CRM) latest AI-driven product, Agentforce 2.0, enables customers to build agents capable of not only answering questions but also taking actions.
"Markets are keen to hear whether Agentforce 2.0, launched mid-way through December, is driving a material uptick in sales," he said.
NYSE - Delayed Quote • USD At close: February 21 at 4:00:02 PM EST
British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG.L) is the top performer in the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) over the past year, with its share price doubling in that time.
"Strong demand for travel, softer oil prices and good cost control have all helped to buoy earnings, helping IAG (IAG.L) return to the dividend list and launch its first share buyback since 2018," said AJ Bell's investment director Russ Mould and head of financial analysis Danni Hewson.
In the third quarter, IAG's (IAG.L) revenue was up 8% to €9.3bn (£7.7bn), while operating profit increased 15% to top €2bn.
Read more: Bank of England’s Bailey plays down inflation fears as jobs data underwhelms
IAG (IAG.L) said it expected its "strong financial performance to continue for the rest of the year".
"British Airways will be looking to sweep the fall-out from its abandoned plans to change how its loyalty points scheme works and for the whole year, analysts expect sales to rise 8% to €31.7bn and adjusted operating profit to increase by 15% to €4.1bn," said Mould and Hewson.
"If chief executive Luis Gallego provides any guidance for 2025, the current consensus forecasts are looking for growth in sales of 4% and profits of 11% to €33bn and €4.5bn, respectively," they added.
As for dividends, IAG (IAG.L) declared an interim payout of €0.03 a share, with analysts estimating €0.0784 for the whole year.
Luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda (AML.L), famed for its associations with the James Bond films, had another challenging year in 2024.
The company issued a couple of profit warnings last year and also turned to investors twice to raise additional funds.
As such, shares are down 29% over the past year and have performed poorly since the company went public in 2018.
Read more: Highly-rated UK stocks that are still trading below pre-Covid levels
In November's profit warning and fund raise announcement, Aston Martin (AML.L) said it expected full-year underlying cash profits to come in the range of £270m ($341m) to 280m, which would be down from £306m reported in the previous year.
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.L), said that "given that free cash flows are expected to remain in negative territory when full-year results are announced next week, it could spell real trouble if demand doesn’t improve soon. In the meantime, investors are hoping to hear the group has credible plans to get costs under control to help stem the financial bleeding."
"To make matters worse, British car manufacturers could see president Trump impose a tariff of as high as 25% on British vehicles being imported to the US," he added. "This would likely hit Aston Martin (AML.L) hard, so it’s a developing story that investors will be keeping a close eye on."
Monday 24 February
ME Group International (MEGP.L)
Bank of Ireland (BIRG.IR)
Diamondback Energy (FANG)
Domino’s Pizza (DPZ)
Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF)
Tuesday 25 February
Croda International (CRDA.L)
JP Morgan Emerging Markets Investment Trust (JMG.L)
Renewables Infrastructure (TRIG.L)
Smith & Nephew (SN.L)
Unite Group (UTG.L)
DotDigital (DOTD.L)
Budweiser Brewing APAC (1876.HK)
ASM International (ASM.AS)
Fresenius Medical Care (FME.DE)
Saipem (SPM.MI)
Home Depot (HD)
Intuit (INTU)
American Tower (AMT)
Workday (WDAY)
Axon Enterprise (AXON)
Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP)
Amer Sports (AS)
Novanta (NOVT)
Wednesday 26 February
Anheuser-Busch Inbev (ABIB.XC)
ConvaTec Group (CTEC.L)
Hammerson (HMSO.L)
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK.L)
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS.L)
Rathbones Group (RAT.L)
Avingtrans (AVG.L)
Deutsche Telekom (DTE.DE)
Munich Re (MUV2.DE)
Danone (BN.PA)
Wolters Kluwer (WKL.AS)
Stellantis (STLAM.MI)
E.On (EOAN.DE)
Beiersdorf (BEI.DE)
Uniper (UN0.DE)
Adecco (ADEN.SW)
Lowe’s (LOW)
CRH (CRH)
Snowflake (SNOW)
Agilent (A)
eBay (EBAY)
Dollar Tree (DLTR)
Paramount Global (PARA)
Thursday 27 February
Aviva (AV.L)
Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF.L)
CVS Group (CVSG.L)
Derwent London (DLN.L)
Drax Group (DRX.L)
Genus (GNS.L)
Greencoat UK Wind (UKW.L)
Haleon (HLN.L)
Hiscox (HSX.L)
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN.L)
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP.L)
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG.L)
Man Group (EMG.L)
Metro Bank (MTRO.L)
Ocado (OCDO.L)
PPHE Hotel Group (PPH.L)
RHI Magnesita (RHIM.L)
Rolls-Royce (RR.L)
Serco Group (SRP.L)
Shaftesbury Capital (SHC.L)
St James's Place (STJ.L)
Taylor Wimpey (TW.L)
WPP (WPP.L)
Hong Kong Exchanges (0388.HK)
Galaxy Entertainment (0027.HK)
Coles (COL.AX)
Iberdrola (1IBE.MI)
AXA (CS.PA)
Saint Gobain (GOB.DE)
ENI (ENI.MI)
Swiss Re (SREN.SW)
Ferrovial (FER.AS)
Telefonica (TEF.MC)
Puig (PUIG.MC)
Ageas (AGS.BR)
Vallourec (VK.PA)
Dell (DELL)
Autodesk (ADSK)
HP Inc (HPQ)
Formula One (FWONK)
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD)
Hormel Foods (HRL)
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH)
JM Smucker (SJM)
Birkenstock (BIRK)
Liberty Broadband (LBRDK)
Friday 28 February
IMI (IMI.L)
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM.L)
Pearson (PSON.L)
Primary Health Properties (PHP.L)
Rightmove (RMV.L)
Spectris (SXSL.XC)
Tritax Big Box (BBOX.L)
Allianz (ALV.DE)
Holcim (HOLN.SW)
BASF (BAS.DE)
Amadeus (AMS.MC)
Clariant (CLN.SW)
Shurgard (SHUR.BR)
Frontline (FRO)
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