Retail Sales; Earnings From Deere, Dell and Alibaba; and Thanksgiving

This trading week is—Thankfully—shorter than usual. But there’s still work to do.

Stock and bond markets are closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. But the week will still bring several economic releases, along with earnings reports from companies including John Deere, Alibaba, Applied Digital and Dell Technologies.

The September report on U.S. retail sales, delayed by the government shutdown, will be released just ahead of Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Weekly jobless claims, pending home sales, durable-goods orders and the latest consumer confidence survey are also on time. Some data originally scheduled for this week will be delayed as government statistical agencies update their timetables to catch up on reports that were delayed during government shutdown. 

In addition to the day off Thursday, stock markets will close at 1 p.m. ET on Friday, while bond markets close at 2 p.m. ET.

Read to the bottom for our calendar of key events—and one more thing.

John Deere, Dell, Alibaba Highlight Shortened Earnings Week

Investors on Monday will get an update from laboratory equipment maker Agilent, video call firm Zoom, and Symbotic, a partner of Walmart that makes AI-powered warehouse automation products.

Tuesday is also busy: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, chipmaker Applied Digital, design software maker Autodesk, data storage provider NetApp, and cybersecurity firm Zscaler are scheduled to report earnings. Workday is expected to report quarterly earnings for the first time since activist investment group Elliott Investment Management reported taking a stake in the company. 

Dell Technologies and HP are slated to report on Tuesday after the computer and equipment makers were downgraded by analysts who see the companies struggling with higher costs for components. John Deere’s report on Wednesday is likely to provide some insight into the overall health of the construction and agriculture industries.

Retail Sales to Roll In Ahead of Black Friday

Delayed retail-sales results for September, due Tuesday, will show whether shoppers kept up their momentum going into the shutdown as consumers focus their attention on Black Friday and the holiday season. Market watchers will also get a look at inflation with the release of the wholesale-focused Producer Price Index for September. 

Reports from private-sector groups will provide updates on pending home sales and consumer confidence in November. Weekly jobless claims are also expected to be issued Wednesday and are likely of interest after last week’s employment report showed hiring surged. 

Several reports on the calendar this week will be rescheduled, including the first reading of third-quarter gross domestic product, the October PCE Price Index, and the advanced reports on October trade balance, retail inventories, and wholesale inventories. The delayed data could make matters more difficult for Federal Reserve officials, who are scheduled to issue their next interest rate decision on Dec. 10.

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This Week’s Calendar

Monday, Nov. 24

• Key Earnings: Agilent (A), Symbotic (SYM), Keysight Technology (KEYS), Zoom Communications (ZM)

Tuesday, Nov. 25

• U.S. retail sales (September)
• More Data to Watch: Producer Price Index (September), Business inventories (August), S&P Case-Shiller home price index (September), Consumer confidence (November), Pending home sales (October)
• Key Earnings: Alibaba (BABA), Analog Devices (ADI), Dell Technologies (DELL), Autodesk (ADSK), Workday (WDAY), Zscaler (ZS), NetApp (NTAP), HP (HPQ), NIO (NIO)

Wednesday, Nov. 26

• Initial jobless claims (Week ending Nov. 22)
• Other Data to Watch: Federal Reserve Beige Book, Durable-goods orders (September), Chicago Business Barometer PMI (November) 
• Key Earnings: Deere & Co. (DE), Li Auto (LI)

Thursday, Nov. 27

Friday, Nov. 28

• Stock markets close at 1 p.m. ET; Bond markets close at 2 p.m. ET
• Black Friday holiday shopping day

One More Thing

Wondering if ChatGPT has the answers for your questions about where to invest $10,000? Investopedia’s Sabrina Karl put the chatbot to the test. You can read more here about the results it delivered.