Catalyst watch for next week: Biogen, Five Below, Tritium and Monster Beverage in the spotlight
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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 - January 10


Volatility watch - Options trading spiked higher again this week on (NYSE:SENS) and (NASDAQ:NXTD). Stocks generating strong interest on Reddit's WallStreetBets include Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) and (NYSE:CLF). The ARK Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA:ARKK) is also generating a considerable amount of discussion. On Stocktwits, the usual suspects like AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC), MicroVision (NASDAQ:MVIS) and Naked Brand Group (NASDAQ:NAKD) are at the top of the most-discussed list. Meanwhile, short interest positions are elevated on Cinemark Holdings (NYSE:CNK), Wayfair (NYSE:W) and Velodyne Lidar (NASDAQ:VLDR) heading into the week. Rover Group (NASDAQ:ROVR) is also on watch for some volatility with a deadline for a redemption of public warrants hitting.

All week - The ICR Conference is the biggest conference of the week with more than 60 publicly-traded companies from the consumer sector set to present. Other notable conferences running during the week include the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, the H.C. Wainwright Virtual BioConnect Conference, the Needham 24th Annual Virtual Growth Conference, the Jefferies Software Summit, the Morgan Stanley Virtual 14th Annual Latin America Executive Conference and the CJS Securities Annual New Ideas for the New Year Investor Conference.

All day - The Biotech Showcase features updates from XOMA Corporation (NASDAQ:XOMA), Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CYCC), Palisade Bio (NASDAQ:PALI) and BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BCLI).

All day - The analyst quiet period expires on Samsara (NYSE:IOT). The Internet-of-things stock trades slightly below its IOI pricing level.

7am - Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) presents at H.C. Wainwright Virtual BioConnect conference. Aurinia has been speculated in recent months to be a takeover target following a few media reports.

9:45 a.m. Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) presents at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference. The appearance is notable because it will mark the first time Biogen is in front of investors after a period of negative attention tied mainly to the newly approved Alzheimer's drug. Biogen announced a few weeks ago that it would significantly cut the price of Aduhelm.

10:00 a.m. Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) presents at the ICR Conference. The retailer is on watch with some analyts for a guidance update that could disappoint investors as it heads into tougher comparable this year.

2:00 p.m. Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) presents at the ICR Conference. Management will have an opportunity to highlight the upside of the Del Taco acquisition after some analysts questioned the rationale.

5:15 p.m. Merck (NYSE:MRK) presents at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in an appearance that some analysts tip could lead to ratings adjustments.

Tuesday - January 11


All day - Cognition Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CGTX) is a participant in a Next-Generation Alzheimerâs Disease Panel at the Virtual Biotech Showcase. The event will be one of the company's most high-profile appearance since the IPO in October.

All day - Capstar Special Purpose Acquisition (NYSE:CPSRU) shareholders meet to vote on the business combination with weight loss maker Gelesis. The SPAC deal is anticipated to give Gelesis an equity value of around $1.3B.

9:00 a.m. Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) presents at the ICR Conference. The restaurant operator has posted guidance updates at prior ICR appearances.

9:00 a.m. Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (NASDAQ:OCDX) is scheduled to present at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference. Quidel Corp. (NASDAQ:QDEL) last month agreed to acquire Ortho Clinical for about $6B.

11:00 a.m. The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs holds a hearing on the nomination of Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve Chairman. While Powell is considered a safe appointment, with support from Republicans and many Democrats, he's likely to face tough questions from progressive Democrats. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has already stated she's against keeping him in the role.

11:00 a.m. Domino's Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) presents at the ICR Conference. The restaurant operator has posted guidance updates at prior ICR appearances.

12:30 p.m. ARK Invest holds its monthly webinar with Q&A-based discussion on recent market developments, macroeconomics and thematic investing in disruptive innovation. Some of the notable buys of the last week from ARK include piling up more shares of Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU), Cloudflare (NYSE:NET), Sea Limited (NYSE:SE), Square (NYSE:SQ) and Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) into its funds.

3:30 p.m. Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) CEO Michael Dell will participate in a virtual fireside chat hosted by Bank of America. Shares of Dell have rallied in the recent past after similar events.

Wednesday - January 12


All day - Shareholders with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation II (NASDAQ:DCRN) meet to vote on the deal to take fast charger specialist Tritium public in a SPAC transaction that is expected to bring in over $400M for the battery charging specialist. Heading into its public debut, Tritium says it is well positioned to benefit from accelerating and sustained long-term growth of the global passenger EV market. Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) is an early PIPE investor in Tritium.

All day - IPOs scheduled to start trading include TPG Partners (TPG), Justworks (JW) and Fgi Industries (FGI).

All day - Bird Global (NYSE:BRDS) following closely upon at its appearance at CES by taking the center stage at a micromobility conference. BRDS trades near its post-SPAC low with investors peeling away from high-growth story stocks.

All day - HSR deadline for AMD's (NASDAQ:AMD) planned purchase of Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX) expires. The deal is awaiting approval from Chinese antitrust authorities and if its not approved by Jan. 11, a new HSR filing will have to me made.

9:00 a.m. Bausch Health Companies (NYSE:BHC) presents at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference. The company's appearance at the huge healthcare gathering is being singled out on the expectation that management will give an update on strategic plans, including the upcoming IPO spinoff of Solta Medical.

Postmarket - Watch Volta Industries (NYSE:VOLT) for volatility after its earnings release is posted. Options trading suggests a move up or down of 15% for shares following the report.

4:30 p.m. - Evolent Health (NYSE:EVH) presents at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference. The company has been speculated as a takeover target fueled by a report in late September that it was in talks with Walgreens Boots (NASDAQ:WBA).

5 p.m. - Santander Holdings tender offer for Santander Consumer USA (NYSE:SC) expires.

Thursday - January 13


All day - Thyssenkrupp AG (OTCPK:TYEKF) conducts its Capital Market Day event in a virtual format.

Premarket - Taiwan Semiconducor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) post key earnings reports that could create a ripple in their respective sectors. Options trading on TSM implies a swing in share price of 6.2% after the earnings release, while trading on DAL suggests a move of 5% up or down after the numbers drop.

8:00 a.m. Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is scheduled to give a keynote talks at the in-person Philadelphia Business Journal Economic Forecast Series event.

9:45 a.m. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUPH) presents at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference conference. Aurinia has been speculated in recent months to be a takeover target following a few media reports.

10:00 a.m. The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs holds a hearing on the nomination of Lael Brainard for Federal Reserve Vice Chair. Last month, Senator Patrick Toomey said Brainard's nomination is "an open question," suggesting she could face a tough fight for confirmation.

Friday - January 14


All day - Shareholders with Gores Metropoulus II (NASDAQ:GMII) meet to discuss the deal to take lodging startup Sonder public in a SPAC deal. Sonder will land $650M in cash if the deal is approved and be able to further capitalize on opportunities within the growing +$800 billion global lodging market.

All day - Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) deadline to launch tender offer for Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ:CERN).

11:00 a.m. - New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is schedulde to make keynote remarks in webinar that is part of the C. Peter McColough Series on International Economics.

4:30 p.m. - Top execs with Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) host a virtual investor meeting to provide an update on the company's business and operations. The timing of the MNST event could be advantageous with beverage stocks falling back in favor recently as investors have sized up low-valuation stocks. Monster Beverage is the leading sector gainer over the last month with a 12% gain vs +11% for Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and +6% for Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP).