3rd-Quarter 2024 Investor Conference and Events Highlights

Wall Street Horizon
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What a first half it was. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both returned more than 15% with gains extending into early July.1 If there's trepidation about what the second half may have in store, it's hard to see those jitters very much in price action lately. Sure, the rally continues to be driven by a handful of U.S. mega-caps, but volatility remains subdued and economic data is hanging in there for the most part. Job growth is holding up while inflation has slowly eased, and now eyes turn to the second-quarter earnings season.

As the second-qiarter earnings season begins, Wall Street Horizon hosts a Data Minds event on July 18 where industry experts will discuss dissecting data as global markets shift in the second half of 2024. Topics for discussion include: global second-half trading and risk outlook, how sector correlations can affect volatility, investor AI use cases the latest trends in ETFs and more.

A high earnings bar

According to FactSet, S&P 500 companies are forecast to report earnings growth of 8.80%. If it verifies, it would be the best growth rate since the first quarter of 2022, right before the U.S. earnings recession began. Peeking ahead, the third quarter is expected to sport an 8.10% increase in SPX earnings per share followed by a much higher 17.30% year-on-year profit jump in the fourth quarter.2 Investors and executives alike may stare up at that lofty profit bar and wonder if it can be hurdled. Perhaps they can gain confidence by watching a few track and field events in Paris later this month.

Central banks closely watching macro trends

Consider there may be cracks emerging with the consumer, evidenced by rising delinquency rates across some credit metrics.3 Moreover, the robust pace of U.S. GDP growth over the latter half of 2023 seems like a distant memory, at least when juxtaposed with the current Atlanta Fed GDPNow real second-quarter economic expansion estimate.4 Finally, economic surprises have been a pooper since April.5

But Chair Powell and the rest of the Federal Open Market Committee stand pat, ready to slash interest rates if there are definitive signs of deterioration in the U.S. economy. Overseas, the European Central Bank has already begun its rate-cutting cycle.

Low current volatility ahead of key elections

And we can't leave out the elephant (and donkey) in the room: election 2024, everyone's favorite topic. Uncertainty is high regarding the future makeup of Congress and who will reside in The White House come next January. Could that bring about volatility in the months ahead? Hard to say, but history suggests it's quite possible. The VIX Index tends to rise ahead of when U.S. voters head to the polls, and there have already been rocky reactions to recent elections (see: Mexico, India and France). All told, more than half of the global population is set to cast ballots this year.6

Executive decisions

These are weighty issues with real implications for companies big and small. Along with earnings season's usual insights, C-suite leaders might also shed light on macro conditions and industry-specific issues at a full slate of third-quarter conferences. July is often a light month of corporate gatherings, but key events take off in August and then come left and right in September. Here are the most potentially impactful conferences and forums scheduled this quarter:

Information Technology & Communication Services

  • Aug. 8: Morgan Stanley Media and Communications Corporate Access Day

  • Aug. 12: Oppenheimer 27th Annual Technology, Internet & Communications Conference (Virtual)

  • Aug. 26: Stifel Tech Executive Summit

  • Aug. 27: Jefferies Semiconductor, IT Hardware & Communication Technology Summit

  • Aug. 28: Deutsche Bank Technology Conference

  • Sept. 3: Barclays Media and Telecom Forum

  • Sept. 4: Citi Global Technology Conference

  • Sept. 9: Goldman Sachs Communacopia Technology Conference

  • Sept. 11: Jefferies Tech Trek Conference

Health Care

  • July 28: Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC)

  • July 29: 4th Annual mRNA-Based Therapeutics Summit

  • Aug. 5: Oppenheimer Biotech in the Berkshires

  • Aug. 12: Stifel Biotech Summer Summit

  • Aug. 14: UBS Genomic Medicine Summit

  • Sept. 4: Morgan Stanley 22nd Annual Global Healthcare Conference

  • Sept. 4: Wells Fargo Healthcare Conference

  • Sept. 11: Bank of America Global Healthcare Conference

  • Sept. 17: Cantor Fitzgerald Global Healthcare Conference

Consumer Discretionary & Consumer Staples

  • Sept. 3: Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference

  • Sept. 4: Goldman Sachs 31st Annual Global Retail Conference

  • Sept. 18: 28th Annual Scotiabank Back to School Conference

  • Sept. 18: Wells Fargo 7th Annual Consumer Conference

  • Sept. 24: Bank Of America European Autos & Future Car Conference

Financials & Real Estate

  • Aug. 21: Wells Fargo 9th Annual FinTech & Services Forum

  • Sept. 9: Goldman Sachs CEEMEA Financial Symposium

  • Sept. 9: Barclays 22nd Global Financial Services Conference

  • Sept. 11: Bank of America Global Real Estate Conference

  • Sept. 24: Bank of America Securities 29th Annual Financials CEO Conference

Industrials

  • Sept. 4: Morgan Stanley Industrial CEOs Unplugged

  • Sept. 4: Jefferies Industrials Conference

  • Sept. 4: Stifel London Industrials Summit

  • Sept. 18: D.A. Davidson 23rd Annual Diversified Industrials & Services Conference

Energy & Utilities

  • Aug. 13: Citi One-on-One Midstream and Energy Infrastructure Conference

  • Sept. 3: Barclays CEO Energy-Power Conference

  • Sept. 9: ROTH 11th Annual Solar & Storage Symposium

  • Sept. 10: NYSE Energy & Utilities Investor Access Day (Virtual)

Materials

  • July 17: Alliance Global A.G.P.'s Mining & Critical Materials Conference (Virtual)

  • Sept. 4: UBS Global Materials Conference

  • Sept. 10: Berenberg Food Ingredients & Chemicals Conference

  • Sept. 15: Gold Forum Americas

  • Sept. 20: Raymond James Strategic Metals & Materials Conference (Virtual)

Regional

  • Sept. 4: Deutsche Bank Access European TMT Conference

  • Sept. 4: UBS Global Emerging Markets One-on-One Conference

  • Sept. 4: Goldman Sachs 21st Annual European Medtech and Healthcare Services Conference

  • Sept. 4: Citibank Global Emerging Market Conference

  • Sept. 4: Deutsche Bank dbAccess European Technology, Media, and Telecommunication Conference

  • Sept. 9: Morgan Stanley 27th Annual Latin America Conference

  • Sept. 17: JP Morgan Emerging Markets Credit Conference

Investor Specific & Multi-Sector

  • July 25: Bitcoin 2024

  • Aug. 6: Susquehanna Industrials, Energy & Travel Conference

  • Aug. 8: Raymond James Industrial and Energy Showcase

  • Aug. 14: Sidoti August Micro-Cap Conference

  • Aug. 28: J.P. Morgan CEO Conference Call

  • Sept. 3: Goldman Sachs EMEA Credit & Leveraged Finance Conference

  • Sept. 5: Piper Sandler 10th Annual Macro Conference

  • Sept. 9: Piper Sandler Growth Frontiers Conference

1 SDPR S&P 500 ETF, StockCharts, July 12, 2024, http://stockcharts.com2 EARNINGS INSIGHT, FactSet, John Butters, July 3, 2024, https://advantage.factset.com3 HOUSEHOLD DEBT AND CREDIT REPORT (Q1 2024), Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2024, https://www.newyorkfed.org4 GDPNow, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, July 10, 2024, https://www.atlantafed.org5 Citigroup Economic Surprise, Yardeni, July 12, 2024, https://yardeni.com6 Elections tracker 2024: every vote and why it matters, The Guardian, Helen Livingston, July 7, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com

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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.