Catalyst watch for next week: Spotlight on Nvidia, Intel, 3M, Mattel and Stablecoins
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Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Catalyst Watch - a breakdown of some of next week's actionable events that stand out. Check out Saturday morning's regular Stocks to Watch article for a full list of events planned for the week or the Seeking Alpha earnings calendar for companies due to report.
Monday - February 14


Volatility watch - Options trading spiked higher again this week on Senseonics Holdings (NYSE:SENS) and Nxt-ID (NASDAQ:NXTD). Stocks generating strong interest on Reddit's WallStreetBets include Affirm Holdings (NASDAQ:AFRM) and Zillow Group (NASDAQ:Z) on the heels of their earnings reports. On Stocktwits, Astra Space (NASDAQ:ASTR) is getting a lot of attention after its failed mission launch. Meanwhile, short interest positions are elevated on Bakkt Holdings (NYSE:BKKT) and Ring Energy (NYSE:REI) heading into the week.

All week - Notable conferences in the week ahead include the SVB Leerink 11th Annual Global Healthcare Conference, the BTIG Medical Technology, Digital Health, Life Science and Diagnostic Tools Conference and the Bank of America Securities Insurance Conference.

All day - Roth CH Acquisition III Co. (ROCR) shareholders will vote on the deal to take utilities infrastructure-services provider QualTek public in a SPAC deal. QualTek provides infrastructure services to wireless, telecom and renewable-energy companies across North America.

All day - The IPO lockup period for a block of Freshworks (NASDAQ:FRSH) shares will expire. Analysts think the lockup wildcard is acting as a near-term overhang for shares.

9:00 a.m. Millicom International Cellular SA (NASDAQ:TIGO) will hold an Investor Day event.

9:00 a.m. 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) is scheduled to hold a strategic update event. The company plans to discuss how its fundamental strengths are leveraged across businesses to create value along with updates on strategic priorities, growth trends, capital allocation priorities and sustainability. The company will also provide its full-year financial outlook for 2022 and hold a question-and-answer session. Shares of 3M rallied more than 10% in the six weeks after it held a similar event.

Tuesday - February 15


All day - Astrea Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:ASAX) shareholders will meet to vote on the SPAC deal to take HotelPlanner and Reservations.com public. The combined company will keep the HotelPlanner name after consummation of the merger and forecasts 2022 revenue of about $170M, as well as three-year revenue CAGR of around 42%.

All day - Healthcare Capital Corp (NASDAQ:HCCC) shareholders will meet to vote on the SPAC merger to take oncology therapeutics company Alpha Tau Medical public in a deal value at $1B. Landenburg Thalmann initiated coverage on Healthcare Capital Corp. with a Buy rating ahead of the SPAC approval vote. The firm's price target implied more than 80% upside for Alpha Tau Medical.

All day - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB) will hold an all-hands employee meeting during which a major announcement is anticipated on how the company plans to realize its metaverse vision. The event could attract more attention to the Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF (NYSEARCA:METV). Also watch AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) if there is a capex spending surprise.

All day - The M&A calendar includes the tender offer expiring on the Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)-Cerner (NASDAQ:CERN) deal and a UK court hearing involving the Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (NASDAQ:OCDX)-Quidel (NASDAQ:QDEL) merger.

8:00 a.m. Allakos (NASDAQ:ALLK) is scheduled to hold an Investor Day event. The company will discuss data from the Phase 3 Enigma 2 and the Phase 2/3 Kryptos studies, as well as next steps in the lirentelimab development program and other Allakos pipeline programs.

9:00 a.m. Otis Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:OTIS) will discuss the company's strategic initiatives and multi-year financial outlook at an investor day event.

10:00 a.m. The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban affairs will conduct an open hearing entitled, "Examining the President's Working Group on Financial Markets Report on Stablecoins. The question on if a stablecoin could "break the buck" under duress and threaten financial stability is one of the concerns being looked at. The largest stablecoins by market cap are Tether (USDT-USD), USD Coin, Binance USD (BNB-USD), TerraUSD (UST-USD) and Dai (DAI-USD). The hearing could also have implications for Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and Ethereum (ETH-USD).

2:15 p.m. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing and then vote on the nomination of Federal Chair Jerome Powell nomination, as well a slate that includes Lael Brainard, Sarah Bloom Raskin, Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson.

Postmarket - Watch Upstart Holdings (NASDAQ:UPST), Toast (NYSE:TOST) and Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) for volatility after their earnings reports are released. Options trading suggests double-digit moves up or down of 15% for all three stocks after the reports drop. All three stocks fell more than 10% the last time the companies reported earnings.

Wednesday - February 16


All day - Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE:NUS) is scheduled to provide financial guidance at its investor day event. The discussion will also delve into details on the company's personalized beauty and wellness product strategy and evolving social commerce go-to-market business model.

All day - IPO lockup periods expire on Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) and UserTesting (NYSE:USER) for certain blocks of shares. Shares of Sweetgreen are up 12% from where the restaurant chain's IPO was priced and UserTesting is off more than 35% from its IPO pricing level.

All day -  Cedar Fair (NYSE:FUN) is scheduled to hold an earnings conference call. The theme park company is the subject of M&A speculation and increased activist investor actions. Shares of Cedar Fair are up 20% over the last week.

2:00 p.m. The release of FOMC minutes will catch more attention than normal amid the intense speculation over the Fed's policy moves with the pace and size of rate hikes, as well as the the thinking on quantitative easing timing. While analysts have noted that some of the information in the minutes release will be considered stale, they note it will still be used to project the hawkish vs. dove tones of voting FOMC members.

Postmarket - Watch Matterport (NASDAQ:MTTR), DoorDash (NYSE:DASH), QuantumScape (NYSE:QS), Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR), Global E Online (NASDAQ:GLBE) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) for big post-earnings moves. Options trading suggests double-digit moves up or down for shares of those companies following the earnings releases. Last earnings season, Matterport had the biggest move of the bunch with a 14% drop following earnings.

Thursday - February 17


All day - Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) will be closely watched with CEO Pat Gelsinger and other leaders scheduled to discuss the company's business strategy.

All day - The American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium will include data presentations from notable healthcare companies like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) and AstaZenecaa (NASDAQ:AZN).

All day - St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard and Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester are scheduled to give speeches. Both are on the hawkish side of the FOMC dove-hawk spectrum.

Premarket - Walmart's (NYSE:WMT) earnings report will cast a huge shadow over the retail sector. Suppliers Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM), Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC), B&G Foods (NYSE:BGS) and Jakks Pacific (NASDAQ:JAKK) all move in tandem with Walmart on earnings day more than 85% of the time.

9:00 a.m. Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) will hold a conference call to give an update on the Vision 2025 strategy as part of a comprehensive investor day event. The company's read on the pricing environment could impact other stocks in the packaging and containerboard sector.

10:00 a.m. Allegheny Technologies (NYSE:ATI) will hold an investor day event. Updates are expected on the company's strategy, markets, operations and long-term financial outlook. Shares of ATI are up 44% YTD.

Friday - February 18


All day - Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans and New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams are scheduled to give speeches. Both are on the dovish side of the FOMC dove-hawk spectrum.

10:00 a.m. Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT) will conduct its investor day, which will include a strategic business update.