We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience.
This includes personalizing content and advertising.
By pressing "Accept All" or closing out of this banner, you consent to the use of all cookies and similar technologies and the sharing of information they collect with third parties.
You can reject marketing cookies by pressing "Deny Optional," but we still use essential, performance, and functional cookies.
In addition, whether you "Accept All," Deny Optional," click the X or otherwise continue to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, revised from time to time.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
After two years of massive gains, these stocks and the rest of the "Magnificent Seven" mega-cap companies — Nvidia (NVDA - Free Report) , Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) and Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) — are off to a rough start in 2025, weighing on equity markets.
Over one-fifth of the S&P 500 have reported results and overall earnings are expected to have grown 8.4% in the first quarter.
But the focus is firmly on corporate outlooks, given the uncertain trade backdrop.
April employment data on May 2nd and inflation figures a day earlier may offer some steer on how the economy is doing.
Forecasts are for a +130K rise in the number of workers on non-farm payrolls after March's +228K increase.
(2) Trade-War Rhetoric Between the U.S. and Mainland China Has De-escalated.
Tensions between the U.S. and China seem to be thawing somewhat, with Beijing considering some exemptions for its 125% tariffs on U.S. imports.
A list of 131 categories of products eligible for exemptions was circulating widely on social media and among businesses and trade groups on Friday.
This comes after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday indicated the U.S. was willing to de-escalate.
It also doesn't seem as if Bessent will be aggressively pressuring Tokyo for a stronger yen, in what can only be welcome news to the Bank of Japan, which meets on May 1st.
Bessent said he has no numbers in mind for the exchange rate as he prepared to meet his Japanese counterpart Katsunobu Kato for talks in Washington.
Only a week earlier, Trump accused Japan of weakening the yen to help exporters.
(3) On Monday, Canada Heads to the Polls to Elect a New Prime Minister.
Canadians head to the polls on Monday and Prime Minister Mark Carney wants a strong mandate to tackle Trump.
Carney believes his southern neighbor poses a huge threat because of his tariffs and talk of annexation, so the answer is to reduce reliance on the United States and restructure the economy.
Voters appear to agree. Carney's Liberal party has rebounded to a 5-point lead over the opposition Conservatives, after having trailed by 24 points back in January.
Markets anticipate this outcome. Canada's dollar, up from February's 22-year low, shouldn't be too impacted.
That said, the road ahead is bumpy.
The IMF has slashed Canadian growth forecasts, and Liberal plans to ramp up spending to boost growth suggest a higher-than-anticipated budget deficit.
The stakes for Carney, who earned a reputation as the “unreliable boyfriend” during his tenor as Bank of England chief, are high.
(4) Key Eurozone Macro Is a Highlight, Now that the Euro Is a “Safe Haven.”
With the euro and Eurozone bonds now functioning as havens for investors fleeing U.S. tariff turmoil, their reaction to key data next week will show if these assets have completely decoupled from the bloc's economy.
Flash Eurozone inflation data on May 2nd may show price growth has continued to ease towards the European Central Bank's 2% target and strengthen the case for further rate cuts.
HCOB's final purchasing managers index for European manufacturers, due the same day, could also confirm widespread fears that confidence is draining out of the regional supply chain.
However, few analysts expect weak data to shake the euro. Bank of America reckons Germany's fiscal splurge will keep it strong, while Barclays expects the common currency to stick around $1.15 unless White House policy shocks abate.
(5) President Trump Marks 100 Days in Office on Wednesday, April 30th.
Trump marks 100 days in office on April 30th, 2025 facing a multitude of challenges, many of his own making.
Trump's on/off tariffs have sent shockwaves through financial markets, which still have no real way of pricing in the possible economic hits.
His public meltdown with Volodymyr Zelenskyy shocked the Ukrainian President's allies in Europe, who, excluded from ceasefire talks with Russia, are now re-arming at the fastest pace in decades.
A heavy-handed approach towards migrants and tourists has slashed visitor arrivals to the United States.
And Trump's jibes about making Canada the 51st U.S. state have sparked an anti-U.S. backlash there.
Old alliances lie in tatters, market sentiment is fragile and uncertainty rife.
Investors are keen for a bit more visibility in Trump's next 100 days.
Zacks #1 Rank (STRONG BUY) Stocks
(1) Komatsu (KMTUY - Free Report) : This is a $28 a share Japanese stock, with a market cap of $27B. It is found in the Manufacturing – Construction and Mining industry. I see a Zacks Value score of B, a Zacks Growth score of C, and a Zacks Momentum score of A.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Komatsu Ltd. is a major manufacturer of construction, mining and utility equipment, and industrial machinery, with operations all over the world.
Approximately 91% of the company's revenue comes from the manufacture and sale of construction, mining and utility equipment.
About 6% of the total comes from industrial machinery, and the rest from retail financing.
Geographically, approximately:
23% of Komatsu's 2021 revenues came from the North American region, with the rest coming from
Latin America (15% of the total)
Japan (12%)
Asia (12%)
Oceania (10%)
Europe (9%)
China (4%) and others
Komatsu's global headquarters is located in Tokyo, Japan.
(2) Swedbank (SWDBY - Free Report) : This is a $23 a share Swedish bank stock, with a market cap of $26.3B. It is found in the Foreign Bank industry. I see a Zacks Value score of D, a Zacks Growth score of D, and a Zacks Momentum score of A.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Swedbank is a leading Nordic-Baltic banking group with retail customers and corporate customers in Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
Swedbank's vision is to be the leading financial institution in the markets where they are present. In Sweden, the group has more than 470 branches.
In the Baltic countries, the group has another 280 branches.
Outside of the Nordic-Baltic home markets, the group is present in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Kaliningrad, Luxembourg, Moscow, New York, Oslo, Shanghai, St. Petersburg and Tokyo.
(3) Ryanair (RYAAY - Free Report) : This is a $46 a share European budget airline stock with a market cap of $24.7B. It is found in the Transportation – Airline industry. I see a Zacks Value score of C, a Zacks Growth score of F, and a Zacks Momentum score of B.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Ryanair Holdings was incorporated in 1996 as a holding company for Ryanair Designated Activity Company (“DAC”).
Ryanair, which commenced its flight operations in 1985, is headquartered in Swords, Ireland.
Ryanair Holdings operates as a low-fare, low-cost scheduled airline group serving short-haul, point-to-point routes from 95 bases to approximately 235 airports across Europe and North Africa, which together are referred to as “Ryanair’s bases.”
The Ryanair Group offers over 3,500 short-haul flights per day across Europe and North Africa.
During fiscal 2024, the Ryanair Group opened four new bases and approximately 265 new airports across Europe and North Africa.
Key Global Macro
Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payroll data for April is the major print.
On Monday, the U.K.’s Nationwide Housing Price Index for April comes out. In March, the annual y/y home price index increase was +3.9%.
On Tuesday, the U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for February comes out. I see the annual y/y home price increase was +4.7%.
U.S. Jolts job openings come out for March. The prior month showed 7.57M openings.
On Wednesday, Australia’s RBA trimmed mean CPI for Q1 comes out. The prior reading was +3.2% y/y.
The U.S. Q1-25 GDP should be +0.4% annualized, following a +2.3% print for Q4-24.
The U.S. PCE inflation index comes out for March too. I see a +2.5% y/y prior mark.
On Thursday, Japan’s Jibun Bank manufacturing PMI for April comes out. I see a 48.5 prior March print.
There will be a Bank of Japan (BoJ) monetary policy statement. The policy rate is at 0.5% now.
The S&P U.S. global manufacturing PMI for April comes out too. I see a 50.7 prior March print.
The ISM manufacturing PMI for the U.S. in April comes out too. I see a 47.9 consensus here, following a 49.0 prior print.
On Friday, the Euro Area HCOB manufacturing PMI for April comes out. I see a 48.7 prior print.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls for April should be +130K, following a +228K print in March. The household unemployment rate should be flat at 4.2%.
Conclusion
On Wednesday, April 23rd, Zacks Research Director Sheraz Mian gave up his latest update, on the Q1-25 earnings season.
His four key points—
(1) Total Q1-25 earnings for the 110 S&P500 index members that have reported results are up +6.1% from the same period last year, on +5.0% higher revenues.
(2) Zacks continues to believe this earnings season is less about what companies earned in the first quarter of 2025, and more about sizing up the earnings impact of the emerging tariff and macro-economic backdrop.
Guidance is always the most important aspect of any earnings season. But it will be even more significant this reporting cycle.
(3) For Q2-25, Zacks expects total S&P500 earnings to be up +7.8% from the same period last year, on +3.9% higher revenues.
Estimates for the Q2 period have been coming down lately.
This aligns with the negative trend we experienced before the start of the Q1 earnings season.
(4) Estimates for full-year 2025 have started coming down – meaningfully – in recent weeks, particularly since about mid-February.
Estimates for 14 of the 16 Zacks sectors have been cut.
Sectors suffering the most significant cuts? Energy, Tech, Finance, and Medical.
Estimates have moved up for the Construction and Aerospace sectors.
Note: If Construction sector spending remains strong, it strikes me that a U.S. recession is further out than most stock traders think.
That’s it for me.
Enjoy this week, in trading and investing.
Warm Regards,
John Blank, PhD. Zacks Chief Equity Strategist and Economist
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Mega-Cap Reports for Q1, Plus Outlooks: Global Week Ahead
What’s going on across this Global Week Ahead?
At mid-week, Donald Trump hits the 100-day mark of his 2nd — and constitutionally final — U.S. presidential term.
Investors are no closer to figuring out how to trade his policies, nor do central bankers have much clarity on how their economies may be affected.
Next are Reuters’ five world market themes, re-ordered for equity traders—
(1) Mega-cap Earnings Reports Pour In, All Week. On Friday, April Nonfarm Jobs.
Apple (AAPL - Free Report) , Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and Meta Platforms (META - Free Report) deliver quarterly results in the coming week, which will also feature some big economic indicators.
After two years of massive gains, these stocks and the rest of the "Magnificent Seven" mega-cap companies — Nvidia (NVDA - Free Report) , Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) and Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) — are off to a rough start in 2025, weighing on equity markets.
Over one-fifth of the S&P 500 have reported results and overall earnings are expected to have grown 8.4% in the first quarter.
But the focus is firmly on corporate outlooks, given the uncertain trade backdrop.
April employment data on May 2nd and inflation figures a day earlier may offer some steer on how the economy is doing.
Forecasts are for a +130K rise in the number of workers on non-farm payrolls after March's +228K increase.
(2) Trade-War Rhetoric Between the U.S. and Mainland China Has De-escalated.
Tensions between the U.S. and China seem to be thawing somewhat, with Beijing considering some exemptions for its 125% tariffs on U.S. imports.
A list of 131 categories of products eligible for exemptions was circulating widely on social media and among businesses and trade groups on Friday.
This comes after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday indicated the U.S. was willing to de-escalate.
It also doesn't seem as if Bessent will be aggressively pressuring Tokyo for a stronger yen, in what can only be welcome news to the Bank of Japan, which meets on May 1st.
Bessent said he has no numbers in mind for the exchange rate as he prepared to meet his Japanese counterpart Katsunobu Kato for talks in Washington.
Only a week earlier, Trump accused Japan of weakening the yen to help exporters.
(3) On Monday, Canada Heads to the Polls to Elect a New Prime Minister.
Canadians head to the polls on Monday and Prime Minister Mark Carney wants a strong mandate to tackle Trump.
Carney believes his southern neighbor poses a huge threat because of his tariffs and talk of annexation, so the answer is to reduce reliance on the United States and restructure the economy.
Voters appear to agree. Carney's Liberal party has rebounded to a 5-point lead over the opposition Conservatives, after having trailed by 24 points back in January.
Markets anticipate this outcome. Canada's dollar, up from February's 22-year low, shouldn't be too impacted.
That said, the road ahead is bumpy.
The IMF has slashed Canadian growth forecasts, and Liberal plans to ramp up spending to boost growth suggest a higher-than-anticipated budget deficit.
The stakes for Carney, who earned a reputation as the “unreliable boyfriend” during his tenor as Bank of England chief, are high.
(4) Key Eurozone Macro Is a Highlight, Now that the Euro Is a “Safe Haven.”
With the euro and Eurozone bonds now functioning as havens for investors fleeing U.S. tariff turmoil, their reaction to key data next week will show if these assets have completely decoupled from the bloc's economy.
Flash Eurozone inflation data on May 2nd may show price growth has continued to ease towards the European Central Bank's 2% target and strengthen the case for further rate cuts.
HCOB's final purchasing managers index for European manufacturers, due the same day, could also confirm widespread fears that confidence is draining out of the regional supply chain.
However, few analysts expect weak data to shake the euro. Bank of America reckons Germany's fiscal splurge will keep it strong, while Barclays expects the common currency to stick around $1.15 unless White House policy shocks abate.
(5) President Trump Marks 100 Days in Office on Wednesday, April 30th.
Trump marks 100 days in office on April 30th, 2025 facing a multitude of challenges, many of his own making.
Trump's on/off tariffs have sent shockwaves through financial markets, which still have no real way of pricing in the possible economic hits.
His public meltdown with Volodymyr Zelenskyy shocked the Ukrainian President's allies in Europe, who, excluded from ceasefire talks with Russia, are now re-arming at the fastest pace in decades.
A heavy-handed approach towards migrants and tourists has slashed visitor arrivals to the United States.
And Trump's jibes about making Canada the 51st U.S. state have sparked an anti-U.S. backlash there.
Old alliances lie in tatters, market sentiment is fragile and uncertainty rife.
Investors are keen for a bit more visibility in Trump's next 100 days.
Zacks #1 Rank (STRONG BUY) Stocks
(1) Komatsu (KMTUY - Free Report) : This is a $28 a share Japanese stock, with a market cap of $27B. It is found in the Manufacturing – Construction and Mining industry. I see a Zacks Value score of B, a Zacks Growth score of C, and a Zacks Momentum score of A.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Komatsu Ltd. is a major manufacturer of construction, mining and utility equipment, and industrial machinery, with operations all over the world.
Approximately 91% of the company's revenue comes from the manufacture and sale of construction, mining and utility equipment.
About 6% of the total comes from industrial machinery, and the rest from retail financing.
Geographically, approximately:
Komatsu's global headquarters is located in Tokyo, Japan.
(2) Swedbank (SWDBY - Free Report) : This is a $23 a share Swedish bank stock, with a market cap of $26.3B. It is found in the Foreign Bank industry. I see a Zacks Value score of D, a Zacks Growth score of D, and a Zacks Momentum score of A.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Swedbank is a leading Nordic-Baltic banking group with retail customers and corporate customers in Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
Swedbank's vision is to be the leading financial institution in the markets where they are present. In Sweden, the group has more than 470 branches.
In the Baltic countries, the group has another 280 branches.
Outside of the Nordic-Baltic home markets, the group is present in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Kaliningrad, Luxembourg, Moscow, New York, Oslo, Shanghai, St. Petersburg and Tokyo.
(3) Ryanair (RYAAY - Free Report) : This is a $46 a share European budget airline stock with a market cap of $24.7B. It is found in the Transportation – Airline industry. I see a Zacks Value score of C, a Zacks Growth score of F, and a Zacks Momentum score of B.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Ryanair Holdings was incorporated in 1996 as a holding company for Ryanair Designated Activity Company (“DAC”).
Ryanair, which commenced its flight operations in 1985, is headquartered in Swords, Ireland.
Ryanair Holdings operates as a low-fare, low-cost scheduled airline group serving short-haul, point-to-point routes from 95 bases to approximately 235 airports across Europe and North Africa, which together are referred to as “Ryanair’s bases.”
The Ryanair Group offers over 3,500 short-haul flights per day across Europe and North Africa.
During fiscal 2024, the Ryanair Group opened four new bases and approximately 265 new airports across Europe and North Africa.
Key Global Macro
Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payroll data for April is the major print.
On Monday, the U.K.’s Nationwide Housing Price Index for April comes out. In March, the annual y/y home price index increase was +3.9%.
On Tuesday, the U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for February comes out. I see the annual y/y home price increase was +4.7%.
U.S. Jolts job openings come out for March. The prior month showed 7.57M openings.
On Wednesday, Australia’s RBA trimmed mean CPI for Q1 comes out. The prior reading was +3.2% y/y.
The U.S. Q1-25 GDP should be +0.4% annualized, following a +2.3% print for Q4-24.
The U.S. PCE inflation index comes out for March too. I see a +2.5% y/y prior mark.
On Thursday, Japan’s Jibun Bank manufacturing PMI for April comes out. I see a 48.5 prior March print.
There will be a Bank of Japan (BoJ) monetary policy statement. The policy rate is at 0.5% now.
The S&P U.S. global manufacturing PMI for April comes out too. I see a 50.7 prior March print.
The ISM manufacturing PMI for the U.S. in April comes out too. I see a 47.9 consensus here, following a 49.0 prior print.
On Friday, the Euro Area HCOB manufacturing PMI for April comes out. I see a 48.7 prior print.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls for April should be +130K, following a +228K print in March. The household unemployment rate should be flat at 4.2%.
Conclusion
On Wednesday, April 23rd, Zacks Research Director Sheraz Mian gave up his latest update, on the Q1-25 earnings season.
His four key points—
(1) Total Q1-25 earnings for the 110 S&P500 index members that have reported results are up +6.1% from the same period last year, on +5.0% higher revenues.
74.5% beat EPS estimates. 62.7% beat revenue estimates.
(2) Zacks continues to believe this earnings season is less about what companies earned in the first quarter of 2025, and more about sizing up the earnings impact of the emerging tariff and macro-economic backdrop.
Guidance is always the most important aspect of any earnings season. But it will be even more significant this reporting cycle.
(3) For Q2-25, Zacks expects total S&P500 earnings to be up +7.8% from the same period last year, on +3.9% higher revenues.
Estimates for the Q2 period have been coming down lately.
This aligns with the negative trend we experienced before the start of the Q1 earnings season.
(4) Estimates for full-year 2025 have started coming down – meaningfully – in recent weeks, particularly since about mid-February.
Estimates for 14 of the 16 Zacks sectors have been cut.
Sectors suffering the most significant cuts? Energy, Tech, Finance, and Medical.
Estimates have moved up for the Construction and Aerospace sectors.
Note: If Construction sector spending remains strong, it strikes me that a U.S. recession is further out than most stock traders think.
That’s it for me.
Enjoy this week, in trading and investing.
Warm Regards,
John Blank, PhD.
Zacks Chief Equity Strategist and Economist