3 Things to Watch in the Stock Market This Week
Stocks set new highs last week, with both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising roughly 1%. The Dow crossed the 27,000 mark and the S&P passed 3,000 points, in part thanks to expectations around lower interest rates ahead.
Hundreds of companies will post fiscal second-quarter earnings results over the next few days. Below, we'll take a look at the metrics from these reports that could send shares of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Domino's (NYSE: DPZ), and eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) moving in the week ahead.
Netflix's content wins
Netflix reveals its earnings results on Wednesday afternoon in what's sure to be an entertaining announcement for investors to watch. The streaming video leader set a few records in the previous quarter, including by attracting 10 million new subscribers to its membership rolls -- or about the same number it gained in its first full year of offering the stand-alone video service back in 2012.
Image source: Netflix.
For the fiscal second quarter, CEO Reed Hastings and his team have predicted that global subscriber growth will slow to about 5 million, or slightly below the 5.5 million that the company added in the prior-year period. Zooming out a bit, the service is on track to post its fifth consecutive year of accelerating growth, with first-half gains likely landing at 14.6 million compared to 13.7 million a year ago.
On Wednesday, look for executives to talk about how new content like the global mega-hit Stranger Things is driving engagement and lifting the brand. On the financial side, CFO Spencer Neumann might comment on an updated timeline for Netflix to wean itself off of corporate debt and start becoming internally funded beginning in 2020.
Domino's market share
Its product can be easily replicated by rivals, but that hasn't stopped Domino's from soaking up market share in the pizza delivery market for more than a decade. Yet investors are getting nervous about the business given that growth has slowed in the U.S. market in each of the last four quarters. Domino's international segment has been a bigger disappointment, with sales gains falling to below management's long-term goals last quarter.
Those stumbles will put the focus on comparable-store sales growth when Domino's reports earnings on Tuesday. Its U.S. segment is hoping to rebound or at least stabilize when compared to the prior quarter's 4% increase, while shareholders hope for international growth to improve from the latest 2% uptick.
In any case, look for CEO Richard Allison to highlight the restaurant chain's formidable market position and impressive efficiencies. Assuming its operating margins remained strong, Domino's will likely plow ahead with its ambitious strategy of blanketing neighborhoods with more locations.
eBay's sales volume
eBay steps up to the earnings plate on Wednesday. The online marketplace is inching back into Wall Street's good graces after reporting some surprisingly strong numbers in the most recent quarter. Sure, its 4% sales uptick was far below the growth of fully integrated peers like Walmart and Amazon. But those gains outpaced management's expectations and sparked an upgrade to eBay's outlook for the year.
Looking deeper into its sales gains, investors will be watching for signs of firming demand, including an increase in the buyer pool that at least matches the 4% rate it has notched over the past year. eBay's sales volumes dipped into negative territory last quarter, too, and ideally that figure returned to growth.
As for future quarters, investors can expect CEO Devin Wenig to talk up eBay's moves into payments processing and third-party advertising. Both of these young businesses posted head-turning growth numbers last quarter and might soon contribute to faster overall sales growth if they keep expanding at that pace.
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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Demitrios Kalogeropoulos owns shares of Amazon, eBay and Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon and Netflix. The Motley Fool recommends eBay. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
