Monday 3 February
- Purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) for manufacturing in Japan, Asia, Europe, the UK and USA
- EU inflation
- US car sales
- OPEC+ meeting
- In Japan, quarterly results from Mizuho Financial, Hoya and Murata
- In the US, quarterly results from Palantir, NXP Semiconductors, Tyson Foods, Clorox and Rambus
Tuesday 4 February
- Full-year results from Crest Nicholson
- Trading statements from Vodafone and Staffline
- US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)
- US factory orders
- In Japan, quarterly results from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Nintendo
- In Europe, quarterly results from UBS, BNP Paribas, Intesa SanPaolo, Dassault Systems, Infineon Technologies, Coloplast and Publicis
- In the US, quarterly results from Alphabet, Merck, PepsiCo, AMD, KKR, Pfizer, Amgen, Spotify, PayPal, Mondelez, Ferrari, Simon Property, Cummins, Marathon Petroleum, Super Micro Computer, Electronic Arts and Estée Lauder
Diageo will release its first-half results on Tuesday as shares sit at a five-year low.
Following a period of prosperity for the company during Covid-19 lockdowns, Diageo has faced an onslaught of difficulties. Tariffs and health warnings in the US have led to a slowdown for brands including Don Julio and Casamigos.
Inventories in the Latin America business have also presented issues for chief executive Debra Crew, who took over in 2023.
Russ Mould, AJ Bell investment director, Danni Hewson, AJ Bell head of financial analysis, and Dan Coatsworth, AJ Bell investment analyst, said: “A profit warning from America’s Constellation Brands back in January has also left analysts on alert.
“The brewer of Modelo and Corona and owner of the Casa Noble tequila brands lowered sales growth estimates for beer and wine and spirits, as management cited subdued overall demand for alcohol and trading down among brands by drinkers.”
For the first half of the fiscal year, analysts anticipate organic sales growth of 0.5%, net sales of $10.7bn and a 2% year-on-year drop in organic operating profit. Diageo has not yet provided any guidance for 2025, but has targeted increasing organic sales and operating profit from 5% to 7% year-on-year.
Diageo has managed to continue dividend growth, with annual increases going back to the 1990s. For the full fiscal year, analysts anticipate an increase of 2.5%.
“It remains to be seen whether shareholders start to turn up the heat on the company and its CEO, especially as activist investors continue to take greater interest in UK equities,” the AJ Bell team said.
“Diageo has already denied market chatter that it may consider the sale of Guinness, or even its full range of beers, and its 34% stake in Moët Hennessy.”
Wednesday 5 February
- Full-year results from Pressure Technologies
- Trading statement from DCC
- Purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) for services in Japan, Asia, Europe, the UK and USA
- US ADP payrolls survey
- US oil inventories
- In Japan, quarterly results from Toyota Motor and KDDI
- In Europe, quarterly results from Novo Nordisk, TotalEnergies, Banco Santander, Equinor, Credit Agricole, Assa-Abloy and Alfa Laval
- In the US, quarterly results from Walt Disney, ARM, Uber, Fiserv, Microstrategy, Emerson Electric, Metlife, Johnson Controls, Ford and Yum! Brands
Thursday 6 February
- Trading statements from Compass, Anglo American and Watches of Switzerland
- Bank of England interest rate decision
- Purchasing manager’s index (PMI) for the UK construction industry
- Challenger Gray & Christmas US job cuts survey
- US weekly initial unemployment claims
- In Japan, quarterly results from Tokyo Electron
- In Asia, quarterly results from Bharti Airtel
- In Europe, quarterly results from L’Oréal, AP Møller-Maersk, Siemens Healthineers and ING
- In the US, quarterly results from Amazon, Eli Lilly, Linde, Philip Morris, Honeywell, ConocoPhillips, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Thomson Reuters, Motorola, Hilton Worldwide, Fastenal, Roblox, Hershey, Take-Two Interactive, Microchip and Monolithic Power Systems
AstraZeneca will release its full-year results on Thursday as the pharmaceutical industry faces uncertainty with Trump’s selection for secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
However, in its third quarter results AstraZeneca raised its guidance, causing a boost in stock price. Analysts will keep an eye out for 2025 predictions by AstraZeneca. Markets currently believe total sales for 2025 should be $55.6bn while core earnings per share should hit $9.50.
“Geographic sales trends will be of interest, too. The US, Emerging Markets, Europe and Rest of World all showed good, double-digit percentage sales growth in the third quarter, but investors may look for any comments on China, where executives have been the subject of regulatory investigation amid allegations of fraud and data privacy breaches, with one individual detained by the authorities. AstraZeneca itself has not been accused of any wrongdoing,” Mould, Hewson and Coatsworth said.
The yearly results could also provide updates on manufacturing investment plans in the UK and an increased research and production budget in the US. Chief executive Pascal Soriot has set a goal of $80bn of sales by 2030.
“A key plank of that ambition will be ongoing support of the drug development pipeline, which as of the third quarter in November contained 199 projects across Phase I, II and III trials and also life-cycle management (LCM) programmes to extend product marketability up to and beyond patent expiry,” the AJ Bell team said.
Friday 7 February
- Halifax UK house price index
- German industrial production
- US non-farm payrolls, wage growth and unemployment rate
- In Japan, quarterly results from NTT and Honda Motor
- In Asia, quarterly results from Mediatek
- In Europe, quarterly results from Danske Bank, Saab, Banco Sabadell, Skanska, Schibsted and Yara