Wall Street Brunch: Meta Connect 2024 (undefined:META)

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Meta CEO Zuckerberg’s speech and Southwest’s Investor Day spotlight occasions of the week. (0:18) Fed’s favourite inflation gauge seen rising. (1:46) Micron earnings will seize AI consideration. (3:04)

The next is an abridged transcript:

Investor occasions spotlight the approaching week because the third quarter wraps up.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) will maintain its annual Meta Join occasion on Wednesday.

The occasion will give attention to the corporate’s Actuality Labs division and is anticipated to incorporate reveals of future {hardware} and software program. That would embrace augmented actuality glasses.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg will give a keynote handle, Expectations are for him to speak about Meta’s broader synthetic intelligence plans, and the mixing of Meta AI (even probably with the glasses).

Looking for Alpha analyst Zvi Bar says Meta inventory “continues to outperform expectations and simply broke out of a six-month buying and selling vary.”

“I consider that shares are prone to proceed to understand together with the market, in addition to due to what’s prone to be a constructive earnings report subsequent month.”

On Thursday, Southwest Airways (LUV) hosts its Investor Day and key matters will embrace 2025 steerage expectations and updates on the order guide and fleet modernization.

Crucially, the occasion will even showcase how Southwest is making main technique pivots for the primary time in 50 years with the introduction of assigned seating, red-eye flights, and further legroom seats. The adjustments are being made to draw new prospects to the service within the wake of activist strikes from Elliott Administration.

Financial institution of America expects Southwest administration to offer extra particulars on the monetary advantages of the technique reset and the near-term influence on money burn and debt through the transition interval. Shares of Southwest Airways are up 8.5% over the past six weeks.

Trying on the financial system, the markets lastly obtained the primary charge minimize from the Fed however the hypothesis about its subsequent transfer is barely simply beginning. Final week’s dot plot confirmed the FOMC penciling in two extra quarter-point cuts by the top of the 12 months, however merchants are betting on at the least three, with a 25% likelihood of 4.

Extra readability might come on Friday when the August private earnings and spending figures arrive. They embrace the core PCE value index. The August core PCE is forecast to have risen 0.2% on the month.

Wells Fargo economists say that “the pickup in shelter inflation revealed in CPI” would be the driver for the achieve, however “shelter’s comparatively weaker affect on the Fed’s most well-liked inflation gauge will make for a smaller bump.”

A 0.2% rise could be “a small step above the unrounded 0.16% improve in July” and unfavorable “base results arrange the year-over-year achieve for a firmer 2.7%. By the month-to-month volatility, nevertheless, core value pressures stay on a downtrend.”

Fed audio system are additionally rising from the blackout interval, so there shall be loads of possibilities for them to refine their message post-decision. Round 15 speeches are scheduled, together with Fed Chairman Jay Powell on Thursday. However his remarks forward of the 2024 Treasury Market Convention hosted by the New York Fed shall be prerecorded, so don’t anticipate any nuance.

On the earnings entrance, Micron (MU) shall be thought of an AI bellwether, whereas Costco (COST) will present extra on shopper resilience as the roles market softens.

Micron reviews fiscal fourth-quarter outcomes Wednesday, with analysts forecasting a revenue of $1.11 per share on $7.64 billion in income.

Stifel minimize its estimates on the inventory final week, whereas holding an Outperform score, saying “shopper electronics sell-through (and extra importantly, combine) has underwhelmed. In our view this will create a lull available in the market over the following few quarters, with reminiscence suppliers reluctant to just accept the trade-off of upper bit shipments in change for decrease costs.”

Looking for Alpha analyst Khaveen Investments says they “shall be looking for administration steerage for income progress expectations for FY2025 to additional assist the case for its continued progress momentum.”

They raised their view on MU to Robust Purchase primarily on account of a rise of their “projected progress for FY2025 of 21% in comparison with 13% beforehand.”

Additionally on the calendar, AutoZone (AZO), KB Residence (KBH), Thor Industries (THO) and Sew Repair (SFIX) report Tuesday.

Jefferies (JEF) joins Micron in issuing outcomes on Wednesday.

And Costco (COST), Accenture (ACN), Jabil (JBL) and CarMax (KMX) weigh in on Thursday.

Within the information this weekend, Normal Motors (GM) will lay off almost 1,700 workers at its Fairfax Meeting and Stamping plant in Kansas. The automaker made this announcement in a WARN submitting with the Kansas Division of Commerce.

The plant in Kansas Metropolis, Kansas, opened in 1987 and produces the Chevrolet Malibu sedan and Cadillac XT4 SUV. It employs about 2,300 staff.

A GM spokesperson was quoted by the Detroit Free Press as saying that the layoffs are “momentary” whereas the corporate spends $390 million to retool the plant to supply the Chevrolet Bolt electrical car. Manufacturing on the plant is anticipated to restart in the midst of 2025.

And X has backed down in its struggle with Brazil’s Supreme Court docket after it banned the social-media platform within the nation for not complying with a justice’s order to dam accounts for spreading misinformation and hate. That’s in accordance with the New York Instances.

In a court docket submitting late Friday, attorneys for X stated the accounts that Justice Alexandre de Moraes had ordered to be eliminated have been taken down. The Instances stated X additionally paid fines that have been imposed and named a brand new formal consultant in Brazil, as ordered.

The court docket on Saturday confirmed the transfer however stated X had not submitted the correct paperwork, including that the platform has 5 days to take action.

For earnings buyers, Logitech (LOGI) goes ex-dividend on Tuesday, with a payout date on Wednesday.

Getty (GTY) and Philip Morris (PM) go ex-dividend on Wednesday. They each pay out on October 10. Nucor (NUE) goes ex-dividend on Thursday, paying out on November 8.

Corporations forecast to extend their quarterly dividend payouts embrace Accenture (ACN) to $1.47 from $1.29, Honeywell Worldwide (HON) to $1.19 from $1.08, and Concentrix (CNXC) to $0.333 from $0.3025.

And within the Wall Road Analysis Nook,, with simply six buying and selling days left within the third quarter, the Goldman Sachs buying and selling desk says the short-term technicals for shares are unfavorable.

Scott Rubner, managing director for world markets and tactical specialist, says he’s tactically destructive into the top of the quarter, and that after Friday’s choices expiration, “the market is free to maneuver in both route.”

Within the medium-term, “I’m cautious on threat pre-election and see buyers lowering 1 delta (in favored lengthy positions) and including to directional hedges (shopping for the S&P 500 put spreads) given the reset in implied volatility,” he stated.

Long run, he stated he’s focusing on a year-end rally to S&P 6,000.

“I feel buyers will chase threat in November and December and re-allocate their portfolios out of money and into shares,” he stated, including that the market will commerce “like a bunch of (recession in title solely)” 2025 portfolios, with breadth to extend and reflation, worth (IVE), (SPYV), power (XLE), (VDE), and rising markets (EEM) outperforming as “out of favor” themes lead the market.