Stocks to watch next week: Tesla, PepsiCo, Delta Air Lines, BNY and Imperial Brands

Earnings preview of key companies reporting next week and what to look out for

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Attention is set to turn to electric carmaker Tesla with its highly-anticipated robotaxi event having been rescheduled to take place on Thursday.

Before that, markets will be looking to see if PepsiCo can improve on the mixed bag of quarterly results it delivered in the summer.

Meanwhile, investors will want to see if Delta Air Lines can deliver the "strong" quarter anticipated by the company's CEO.

BNY is another stock in focus, as investors wait to see if its latest set of quarterly results can drive further rises in its share price, having already hit fresh highs recently.

In the UK, the market will be keeping an eye on Imperial Brand's latest trading update, to see if next generation products can contribute a bigger share to its business.

Here's more on what to look out for:

Electric carmaker Tesla is set to unveil its robotaxi at an event on the 10 October, which was pushed back from August.

In addition to the autonomous taxi, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a note released last month that he believed Tesla's engineers and designers might "show off a few other things," given the extra time they've had for this highly-anticipated event.

Tesla shares have been under pressure in recent days and tumbled on Thursday on the back of different reports that caught investor attention.

Bloomberg reported that the company is planning a $783m (£598m) debt sale. In addition, The Information reported that Tesla's plans to release four new batteries by 2026, including one specifically designed for its highly anticipated robotaxi project.

Tesla also said on Thursday that it had issued a widespread recall affecting 27,000 Cybertrucks due to a camera issue, which further impacted investor sentiment.

Also weighing on the stock was Tesla announcing third-quarter deliveries that missed expectations.

Tesla delivered 462,890 vehicles in the three months ending 30 September, which was up 6.4% quarter-over-quarter and did mark the first quarter of delivery growth this year. However, Wall Street had expected the business to deliver a figure closer to 463,900 according to Bloomberg.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said there's "a lot of expectation and volatility going into and coming out of the event is pretty much nailed on.”

Food and beverage corporation PepsiCo released a mixed bag of second-quarter results in July and the shares have seen some volatility year-to-date, leaving the stock almost flat.

Pepsi posted earnings per share of $2.23 in the second quarter, up 13% on the same period in 2023. The company also reported net revenue growth of 0.8% at $22.5bn.

However, it lowered its guidance for the 2024 fiscal year, saying it now expected 4% organic revenue growth, versus previous forecasts of "at least 4%".

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Ramon Laguarta, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, said the company had a "high degree of confidence in delivering at least 8% core constant currency EPS growth for full-year 2024".

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that July marked "another weak showing on the revenue front for Pepsi."

"Looking to next week’s results, with cost inflation expected to ease, the rate of price hikes should slow and hopefully revive some demand for Pepsi’s products," he said. "Growth from a more sustainable mix of both price and volume would be welcome by investors."

Earlier this week, PepsiCo announced it is buying tortilla chip maker Siete Foods for $1.2bn. The company said it expected the transaction to close in first half of 2025, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

Shares in Delta Air Lines have seen some recovery over the past couple of months, with the stock now up 18% year-to-date.

The US airline reported record revenue during the second quarter at $15.41bn, though this was below the $15.44bn expected, based on consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Adjusted net income also fell below analyst expectations, at $1.528bn, compared to forecasts of $1.531bn. This meant earnings per share came in at $2.36, against expectations of $2.38.

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Following the release of the results, Delta CEO Ed Bastian told Yahoo Finance that summer travel demand remained "very, very healthy," contributing to the company's second-highest earnings performance behind Q2 2023 but acknowledged that some consumers are becoming more price-sensitive.

"As we look into the third quarter we see another strong quarter," he said. "The domestic marketplace is where a little bit of the price sensitivity is starting to take hold, and it’s in the lower fare buckets."

Delta announced this week that it had signed a codeshare agreement with Saudia Airlines, the national flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, building on their existing relationship.

The deal, Delta said, would expand the choice of destinations for Delta customers between North America and the Arabian Peninsula.

Shares in the Bank of New York Mellon, known as BNY since a rebrand in June, have hit all-time highs this year, with stock up 36% so far in 2024.

The stock jumped after it reported second quarter earnings that topped estimates in July. The company posted total revenues of $4.5bn for the quarter, up 2% on the same period in 2023.

BNY also reported diluted earnings per share of $1.52, which was up 16% on the previous year.

Robert Vince, CEO of BNY, said the company had "delivered another quarter of improved financial performance, with positive operating leverage on the back of solid fee growth and continued expense discipline".

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BNY, which is the oldest bank in the US, is preparing to enter the crypto-custody market. It has just received approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its request to offer crypto custody services.

The company received a "no-objection" from the SEC regarding its request to safeguard digital assets like bitcoin and ether (ETH-USD) without having to list them as balance-sheet liabilities.

This decision that could make it easier for the bank to offer these services while adhering to regulatory requirements, according to a report by Bloomberg.

British tobacco company Imperial Brands said in first-half results released in May that it was on track to deliver on its guidance for the full-year, saying it expected to "deliver low single-digit constant currency tobacco and NGP net revenue growth".

The company said net revenues for its next generation products, such as vapes, were up 17% on a constant currency basis but posted a 2.3% dip in overall revenues versus the previous year, at £15.1bn.

Imperial said that strong tobacco pricing, which had grown 8.6%, had offset volume declines.

However, Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "With inflation easing, price rises may get harder to push though.

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"In next week’s trading update, the market will find out if the Lambert and Butler manufacturer has managed to keep organic growth moving in the right direction."

Nathan highlighted that there was also growing pressure for next generation products to make a bigger contribution to the business.

"Management will be hoping that recent product launches and marketing initiatives will see that level accelerate," he said.

"Imperial’s cash generation supports generous payouts to shareholders, who will be keen for a progress update on this year’s targeted returns of £2.4bn, as well as longer-term commitments to dividends and buybacks."

Shares in Imperial Brands are up nearly 19% year-to-date.

Monday 7 October

Ferrexpo (FXPO.L)

Tuesday 8 October

S&U (SUS.L)

Unite (UTG.L)

Thursday 10 October

Volution (FAN.L)

Norcros (NXR.L)

7&I (3382.T)

Fast Retailing (9983.T)

Friday 11 October

Hays (HAS.L)

Fastenal (FAST)

You can read Yahoo Finance's full calendar here.

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