Finance week ahead: Jackson Hole Symposium, UK inflation, Walmart, Palo Alto Networks and Baidu
This year's Jackson Hole Symposium will see central bankers from around the world gather to discuss economic policy – an event that will be closely watched by investors for any signals on the US Federal Reserve's plans for future interest rate cuts.
Back in the UK, the focus will be on the latest inflation data, which has been ticking higher over the past couple of months.
In terms of earnings releases, investors will be looking at results from US retail giant Walmart (WMT), which is considered a barometer for consumer sentiment.
In the tech sector, US cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is set to report, with the stock having seen a couple of analyst ratings upgrades this week.
China's Baidu (9888.HK, BIDU) is another major tech company scheduled to report, having recently struck a deal with Uber (UBER) to deploy its autonomous cars on the ride-hailing platform across markets outside of the US and mainland China.
Here's more on what to look out for:
Jackson Hole Symposium – Takes place from Thursday 21 August to Saturday 23 August
The theme for this year's Jackson Hole event is "Labor Markets in Transition: Demographics, Productivity, and Macroeconomic Policy". This comes amid concerns about a cooling labour market, as economic uncertainty sees firms put off hiring decisions.
Central bankers keep a close eye on labour market data, which includes payroll numbers, unemployment rates, job vacancies and wage growth. This data helps inform their decisions on interest rates, as they seek to balance maintaining labour market health, with ensuring inflation continues to ease to the widely used 2% target.
This has been more challenging amid fears that US president Donald Trump's tariffs could weigh on economic growth but also drive inflation higher.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Although the effect of Trump's tariffs on monetary policy will be the undercurrent theme, investors will be looking specifically for clues as to the Fed's inclination to cut interest rates going forward."
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"Bets on a cut in September have increased sharply following a stable inflation reading for July and there will focus on what could lie ahead for borrowing costs," she said.
Data released on Tuesday showed that "core" inflation rose 0.3% in July, surpassing June's 0.2% uptick. On an annual basis, the core consumer prices index (CPI) reading came in at 3.1%, up from 2.9% in June.
Another inflation measure, the producer price index (PPI) came in hotter than expected in July, according to figures released on Thursday. US PPI for July showed inflation for businesses rose 0.9% over the prior month, well ahead of the 0.2% increase that was forecast. On an annual basis, prices rose 3.3%, which was also ahead of the 2.5% expected. This data dented investor hopes of a bigger 50-basis-point interest rate cut by the Fed.
In addition, Streeter said: "How to bolster productivity in an era of demographic change will also be a big focus of discussions, with labour markets around the world in a state of upheaval as population changes, tougher immigration laws and AI developments are set to be hugely disruptive in the years to come."
UK consumer price inflation – Data due out on Wednesday 20 August
Following a year-on-year uptick in the UK consumer prices index (CPI) to 3.6% in June from 3.4% in May, Streeter said that there is set to be a "steamier inflation reading for July".
"The Bank of England is now forecasting that CPI will hit a peak of 4% in September so, for now, it looks like the only way is up for prices," she said.
"Barclaycard data has shown that there was an uplift in card spending in July, especially around events like the Oasis tour," she added. "The hot but stormy weather also led to a spurt in clothing purchases. Wage inflation has remained sticky."
Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, released on Tuesday, showed that annual wage growth excluding bonuses came in at 5% in April to June, unchanged from the previous three months.
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"Although pay growth has slowed, it's now static and is still outstripping inflation, so there's a risk that firms will pass on heavier costs as higher prices," said Streeter.
"Unless there's a marked and unexpected fall in inflation, the Bank of England looks set to stay cautious and delay another interest rate cut at least November or December."
Sanjay Raja, senior economist at Deutsche Bank (DBK.DE), said in a note on Friday that his team expect headline CPI to rise to 3.8% in July.
"July inflation will likely see price momentum rise further into uncomfortable territory," he said.
Walmart (WMT) – Releases second quarter earnings on Thursday 21 August
As the largest retailer in the US, Walmart (WMT) is consider to act as a bellwether for consumer health, so it's earnings are closely watched by investors.
Shares are up more than 11% year-to-date but edged lower after Walmart released a mixed set of first quarter results in May.
Walmart (WMT) posted first quarter revenue of $165.5bn (£122.02bn) , which was up 2.5% from the same period last year, though this missed Wall Street expectations of $166.02bn. Adjusted earnings per share grew 1.7% year over year to $0.61, beating estimates of $0.58. US same-store sales also beat expectations with a 4.5% increase, led by health and wellness, and groceries.
However, the retailer signalled that there could be more pain ahead. In an earnings call, Walmart (WMT) CEO Doug McMillon said: "We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible, but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren't able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins."
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John David Rainey, chief financial officer of Walmart (WMT), said in the earnings release that the company had decided to hold off on providing a specific range of guidance for operating income growth and earnings per share for the second quarter, given the "dynamic nature of the backdrop".
Walmart (WMT) did guide to net sales growth of 3.5% to 4.5% for the quarter, based on the $167.8bn it reported a year ago.
AJ Bell's (AJB.L) investment director Russ Mould and head of financial analysis Danni Hewson said that analysts expect a headline figure for net sales of $174bn.
"That turns into a consensus analysts' forecasts for [net profit in] the second quarter of $5.8bn, and a headline earnings per share (EPS) figure of $0.72, up from $0.67 a year ago," they said.
"For the full year to January 2026, Walmart has thus far guided to a net sales increase on a constant currency basis of 3% to 4% and analysts' headline estimate for the top line is $699bn," they added. "Management expects full-year EPS to come in between $2.50 and $2.60, and the current analysts' consensus is $2.58."
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) – Releases fourth quarter earnings on Monday 18 August
Ahead of the release of its fourth quarter earnings, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) has seen two analyst rating upgrades this week.
Analysts at Piper Sandler (PIPR) upgraded their rating on Palo Alto (PANW) to "overweight" and raised their price target on the stock from $200 to $225, according to data gathered by Yahoo Finance.
The shares are currently down 4.6% year-to-date, with the stock having closed Thursday's session at $173.55 per share.
Deutsche Bank (DBK.DE) also upgraded its rating to a "buy" and raised its price target from $200 to $220.
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Brad Zelnick, managing director, software equity research at Deutsche Bank (DBK.DE), said in a note on Wednesday that his team upgraded the stock given its "thoughts on the health of the business, quality of its leadership, and forward prospects for the announced acquisition of CyberArk (CYBR)".
Palo Alto (PANW) announced at the end of July that it had agreed to buy Israeli rival CyberArk in a $25bn deal.
"With the stock underperforming broader cyber by 15% YTD and 11% since credible speculation of the acquisition, we think investor concerns are overblown," said Zelnick.
Shares in the Palo Alto (PANW) came under pressure following the release of its third quarter earnings in May, as the results failed to impress investors.
The cybersecurity company's third quarter revenue came in at $2.3bn, just above expectations, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were $0.80.
For the fourth quarter, Palo Alto (PANW) guided to total revenue in the range of $2.49bn to $2.51bn, representing year-over-year growth of between 14% and 15%.
Baidu (9888.HK, BIDU) – Releases second quarter earnings on Wednesday 20 August
In July, Baidu (9888.HK, BIDU) and ride-hailing app Uber (UBER) announced a multi-year partnership to deploy thousands of the Chinese company's Apollo Go autonomous vehicles on the Uber platform across multiple global markets.
The companies said that the first deployments are expected in Asia and the Middle East later this year.
Baidu's (9888.HK, BIDU) Hong Kong-listed shares rose following the news, though the stock is still trading just 5.3% in the green year-to-date.
In terms of financial performance, Baidu's (9888.HK, BIDU) total revenue was up 3% year-on-year in the first quarter to $4.47bn, though adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were down 13% year-on-year at $993m.
Read more: EU economic growth slows to 0.2% in second quarter
Robin Li, CEO of Baidu (9888.HK, BIDU), said that 7% growth in the company's core revenue was "driven by the accelerating momentum" of its AI cloud business.
"The strong performance of our AI cloud business underscores the growing market recognition of our distinctive strength in providing full-stack AI products and solutions with a highly competitive price-performance advantage," he said. "We also achieved a pivotal milestone in our robotaxi business, as Apollo Go expanded internationally by entering Dubai and Abu Dhabi."
"We are confident that our AI-first strategy positions us to remain at the forefront and to capture long-term growth opportunities in the AI era," Li added.
Other companies reporting next week include:
Monday 18 August
BATM Communications (BVC.L)
Thungela Resources (TGA.L)
Tuesday 19 August
IWG (IWG.L)
Tribal (TRB.L)
BHP (BHP.L)
Xiaomi (1810.HK)
Coloplast (COLO-B.CO)
Home Depot (HD)
Medtronic (MDT)
Amer Sports (AS)
Toll Brothers (TOL)
Wednesday 20 August
OSB (OSB.L)
Costain (COST.L)
Ithaca Energy (ITH.L)
Kenmare Resources (KMR.L)
Hong Kong Exchanges (0388.HK)
DFDS (DFDS.CO)
Lowe's (LOW)
Analog Devices (ADI)
Estée Lauder (EL)
Coty (COTY)
Thursday 21 August
Hays (HAS.L)
Brambles (BXB.AX)
AIA (1299.HK)
Aegon (AGN.AS)
GN Store Nord (GN.CO)
Tessenderlo (TESB.BR)
Zoom Communications (ZM)
Dollar Tree (DLTR)
Friday 22 August
Meituan (3690.HK)
GoldFields (GFI.JO)
You can read Yahoo Finance's full calendar here.
Read more:
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UK job market continues to weaken as vacancies fall
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