Monday 10 February
- Full-year results from Porvair
- In Asia, monthly sales figures from TSMC
- In Europe, quarterly results from Mediobanca
- In the US, quarterly results from McDonald’s, Rockwell Automation, ON Semiconductor, Loews, Vornado Realty Trust, Lattice Semiconductor, Amkor, Coty and Tower Semiconductor
Tuesday 11 February
- Full-year results from Wynnstay
- First-half results from Dunelm, MJ Gleeson and PZ Cussons
- Trading statements from Bellway
- British Retail Consortium UK retail sales figures
- US NFIB smaller companies survey
- In Australia, quarterly results from Macquarie
- In Europe, quarterly results from UniCredit, Deutsche Boerse, Kering, SGS, Stora Enso and TUI
- In the US, quarterly results from Coca-Cola, Shopify, Gilead Sciences, Marriott International, DoorDash, AIG, Humana, GlobalFoundries, Carlyle, Zillow and Lyft
- BP full-year results
BP will release its full-year results on Tuesday as the stock price remains at an over two-year low.
Shareholders are awaiting an announcement on BP’s oil and gas production strategy, as well as renewable energy. BP has lagged its competitors in total return in the past five years, at just near 75% while Conoco Phillips has a total return of over 200%. The shift in 2020 occurred as Bernard Looney announced a pivot from hydrocarbons, according to AJ Bell.
Russ Mould, AJ Bell investment director, Danni Hewson, AJ Bell head of financial analysis and Dan Coatsworth, AJ Bell investment analyst, said: “Before his sudden departure in 2023, Mr Looney had already refined his plan to cut oil and gas production by 40% by 2030 and trimmed the target to a 25% reduction, even if the long-term target of reaching net zero was left unchanged.
“Investors have continued to question whether the pace of movement is too fast, given the perception that renewable projects offer lower returns on investment, and require different skillsets, since the customers, end markets and supply chains are different from the oil and gas industry. US rivals have tended to focus on hydrocarbons, either through exploration work or acquisition, as evidenced by ExxonMobil’s swoop for shale specialist Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron’s bid to buy Hess.”
While oil prices have stayed mostly the same in the past year, natural gas has jumped over 50%. This has led analysts to anticipate an underlying replacement cost profit after tax of just $1.3bn for the quarter, down from $2.3bn in the third quarter. For the full year this should total about $9bn, down from $13.8bn last year.
“By division, BP has already flagged a drop in oil and gas and low carbon output in the fourth quarter compared to the third, weak refining margins in the downstream business, unhelpful currency movements, an inventory adjustment at a bio-ethanol acquisition and a higher-than-expected tax charge,” the AJ Bell trio said.
“Such a muddy picture may not help sentiment, and analysts will look to 2025’s output targets and capital expenditure budget, which is forecast to increase sharply to $16 billion in 2024 and then flatline in 2025 and 2026. The mix between projects – oil, gas and renewables – will also be of interest.”
Wednesday 12 February
- First-half results from Barratt Redrow
- US inflation
- Federal monthly budget deficit (or surplus)
- US oil inventories
- In Japan, quarterly results from Softbank
- In Europe, quarterly results from EssilorLuxottica, Heineken, Ahold Delhaize, Siemens Energy, Schindler, Michelin, Aker and Randstad
- In the US, quarterly results from Cisco, Equinix, CME Group, Williams, CVS Health, Robinhood Markets, Kraft Heinz, Reddit, Southwest Airlines, Barrick Gold, Interpublic and MGM Resorts
Thursday 13 February
- Full-year results from Unilever, RELX and Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling
- First-half results from Renishaw
- Trading statement from Tate & Lyle
- UK GDP growth
- EU industrial production
- UK manufacturing, industrial and construction output growth
- US producer price inflation
- US weekly initial unemployment claims
- In Japan, quarterly results from Sony, Japan Tobacco, Honda Motor and Nissan Motor
- In Australia, quarterly results from South32
- In Europe, quarterly results from Nestlé, Siemens, Pernod Ricard, KBC, Orange, Legrand, Commerzbank, Moncler, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Delivery Hero
- In the US, quarterly results from Applied Materials, Deere, Brookfield, Airbnb, Duke Energy, Motorola Solutions, Coinbase Global, Zoetis, GE Healthcare, Ingersoll Rand, DraftKings and Molson Coors
- British American Tobacco full-year results
British American Tobacco will release its full-year results on Thursday as share prices fly despite some negative social sentiment around the product.
“Anti-smoking campaigners and investors who run strict environmental, social and governance screens may be disappointed, frustrated or surprised to see shares in British American Tobacco (BAT) trade at two-year highs after a gain of around one third in the last twelve months alone,” Mould, Hewson, and Coatsworth said.
“This is despite the ongoing, seemingly relentless decline in cigarette volumes.”
Traditional cigarette stick sales declined to near 550bn in 2023, from over 700bn in 2018. But new products have joined the market, such as Velo, vuse, and glo, offering alternatives to customers. While traditional cigarette sales made up 88% of total revenue in 2020, this has declined to 81% by 2023.
For 2024, analysts anticipate total sales of £26.1bn, and earnings per share of 362p, slightly down from last year’s 376p.
British American Tobacco also runs a share buyback programme and pays out dividends, which amounts to near £6bn in cash returns for 2024.
“Note that the company has also partially funded buybacks through selling highly valued assets in India, where the stock market has boomed,” the AJ Bell team said.
“BAT owns a 20.3% stake in ITC, a Kolkata-headquartered conglomerate, which is involved in not just tobacco, but hotels, agriculture, and consumer goods such as clothing, confectionery and stationery. That shareholding has a current stock market valuation of £11.5 billion, or a sixth of BAT’s market cap, and compares to a stated valuation on BAT’s balance sheet of less than £2 billion.”
Friday 14 February
- Full-year results from SEGRO and Coca-Cola Europacific partners
- EU GDP growth
- US retail sales
- US industrial production and capacity utilisation rate
- In Japan, quarterly results from Tokio Marine, Japan Post Bank, Olympus, Asahi, Rakuten and Kirin
- In Europe, quarterly results from Hermès, Safran, Kingspan and Norsk Hydro
- In the US, quarterly results from Moderna