Finance week ahead: Interest rates, Nike, Micron, WH Smith and Currys
View original at uk.finance.yahoo.comFinance week ahead: Interest rates, Nike, Micron, WH Smith and Currys Interest rate decisions and earnings from a number of major companies are on the agenda for the last full trading week before Christmas…
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The ECB has cut quickly and President Lagarde has signalled the main refinancing rate is near the neutral point at 2.15%; markets do not expect any rate change at the December meeting
80% confidenceNike now expects annual cost of tariffs to be around $1.5bn, up from a previous estimate of $1bn
80% confidenceNike has spent the last year cleaning up excess inventory and ramping innovation; Q3 expected to begin a sales inflection benefiting from strong wholesale sell-in, early World Cup demand, and lapping buybacks from wholesalers
80% confidenceCurrent consensus puts the BoJ main policy rate at 1.25% by the end of 2025
80% confidenceWH Smith expects group headline profit before tax to be in the range of £100m to £110m for FY2025
80% confidenceDeloitte's independent review identified a number of shortcomings in WH Smith's operations for fiscal years 2023–2025
80% confidenceBank of America analysts expect Nike to report net sales of $12.15bn and EPS of $0.36 for Q2, reiterated buy rating, and said Q3 revenue guidance will be the key datapoint
80% confidenceCurrys' fortunes could not contrast with those of WH Smith any more strongly; Currys fought off Elliott's bid and shares now stand at their highest mark in four years, well above Elliott's 67p offer
80% confidenceBoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda is attempting to gently tighten monetary policy to contain inflation and support the yen without snuffing out growth or the ongoing stock market surge; analysts put 50-50 odds on a quarter-point rate increase to 0.75%
80% confidenceWeakness in GDP, alongside the slowing labour market and the decline in inflation in October, makes Capital Economics more confident in their forecast that the Bank of England will cut interest rates by another 25 basis points to 3.75% on Thursday 18 December
80% confidenceAnalysts watching Currys' interim results will focus on like-for-like trading trends in UK/Ireland and Nordics, and subscriber growth at iD Mobile toward a 2.5 million year-end target
80% confidenceOver the coming years, trillions of dollars will be invested in AI, a significant portion on memory; as the only US-based memory manufacturer, Micron is uniquely positioned to benefit from the AI opportunity
80% confidenceCurrys is comfortable with market consensus for year-ahead performance
80% confidenceWH Smith's North American unit had substantial growth potential with passenger numbers in air travel forecast to grow 2.5 times before 2050, making the accounting error particularly ironic
80% confidenceCarl Cowling's resignation added another level of uncertainty to WH Smith's management and left the group with much work to do in restoring investor confidence
80% confidence