Stocks jumped last week as strong earnings reports and job market data offset concerns about the spread of the coronavirus in China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.98%) and the S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.46%) each gained over 3% to bounce back into positive territory for the year, after gaining nearly 30% in 2019.
Several highly anticipated earnings reports will be released over the next few trading days, including ones from big names such as Under Armour (UA -1.97%) (UAA -2.34%), Hasbro (HAS -0.09%), and NVIDIA (NVDA 3.71%). Below, we'll look at the key trends that might send these stocks moving this week.
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Under Armour's sales growth
Under Armour shareholders endured a wild ride in 2019. The stock surged about 50% in the first seven months of the year, but investors ended up with just 19% gains by year-end, trailing the broader market's rally. That late-year pessimism came courtesy of weak operating trends that translated into significant market-share losses. In fact, Under Armour's sales fell 4% in the U.S. last quarter, compared to a 5% increase for rival Nike.
Investors will be focused on sales growth in Under Armour's holiday-season report due out on Tuesday. Expectations are modest, with management predicting just a 2% global revenue uptick for the full year. Some investors see opportunity in the stock's recent plunge, which could quickly reverse itself if operating trends improve. But first, incoming CEO Patrik Frisk and his team will have to show that the sports apparel specialist can still compete against Nike and other industry peers in the new fiscal year.
Hasbro's holiday performance
Investors are also looking forward to Hasbro's earnings report on Tuesday, and not just because the fourth quarter includes the all-important holiday season. The company needs just modest sales gains to reach management's full-year goals for revenue and operating profit. However, Hasbro faced major challenges to that target this period, including rising prices and supply issues tied to Chinese tariffs.
The toy and game giant has some good reasons to project a better year ahead this week. Its partnership with Disney offers many opportunities to build its licensed product segment -- including the first official Baby Yoda toys. Investors will be just as interested to hear if this cash-rich business can continue delivering robust dividend growth in 2020, given that the payout has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 13% over the past decade.
NVIDIA's return to growth
NVIDIA steps up to the earnings plate after the market closes on Thursday. The chipmaker has returned to Wall Street's good graces recently, with shares spiking 76% in 2019. Sales are still shrinking due to slumping demand in the cryptocurrency niche, but those losses have moderated in each of the last two quarters. The company is predicting a robust return to sales growth this quarter, with revenue projected to jump 34%.
From there, the tech stock's movement will likely depend on how well the company can capitalize on several major growth trends that touch its intellectual property, including artificial intelligence, video gaming, and autonomous driving. NVIDIA's tech platforms appear well positioned in these areas, which implies a potentially dramatic return to annual sales and profit growth in the coming year.
