Week Ahead: Uber, Disney earnings and Bank of England

Welcome to your guide to the week ahead in the markets.

Uber earnings

Ride-hailing app Uber reports its third quarter earnings on Monday after a rocky start to life on the stock market. Peer and rival Lyft recently reported better-than-expected numbers, but there are concerns Uber is not keeping pace. Revenues rose just 14%, the slowest ever, while losses climbed from $292 million to $656 million. Monthly users rose 30% to 99 million, with trips up 35%. Shares have rebounded in October from the post-IPO lows but is there any room left on the upside?

Bank of England, RBA meetings

Following the Fed’s rate cut last week, central bank focus switches to the UK and Australia. First up on Tuesday is the RBA, which cut rates again to a record low of 0.75% last month. Whilst markets don’t see another cut this time, the bias remains to ease. The RBA said it can see a ‘turning point’ in some economic data but added ‘an extended period of low interest rates will be required’. Governor Philp Lowe last week reiterated the RBA can cut again but pushed back on the prospect of negative rates.

On Thursday the Bank of England is similarly expected to leave rates on hold. Whilst they would like to be free to make their own call unhindered, the continued Brexit-related uncertainty is likely to mean rates stay on pause. Lately the outlook seems to be shifting towards, unofficially at least, more of an easing bias.

Disney earnings

Much of the hype around Walt Disney is currently focussed on its upcoming Disney+ streaming service, which is set to launch this month. Guidance for the fiscal 2020 year will be of particular interest as it will show what impact the new revenue stream is expected to have on top and bottom lines.

Analysts are expecting DIS to post a sharp decline in earnings for the latest quarter, with EPS predicted down at $0.95 compared to Q3’s $1.35.

UK election campaign

Finally, on the political front we get a rest from Brexit as the UK General Election campaign kicks off this week. For sterling traders the polls will be the new headline risk as they try to assess the chances of the Conservative Party winning and managing to get the withdrawal agreement bill signed, sealed and delivered by Jan 31st.

Corporate diary

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Key Economic Events

There’s a lot going on in the coming week, here are the events we to watch out for.