Catalyst watch: Tesla earnings, Jerome Powell speech, UAW drama and Baidu event
monsitj
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 - October 16


Volatility watch - Short interest levels are elevated Fisker (FSR), Theravance Biopharma (TBPH), Novavax (NVAX), Bowlero Corp. (BOWL), and Bicycle Therapeutics plc (BCYC). Options trading volume has moved higher recently on Virgin Galactic (SPCE) and Replimune Group (REPL). The most overbought stocks per their 14-day relative strength index are Generation Asia I Acquisition (GAQ), Acurx Pharmaceuticals (ACXP), and StarTek (SRT). The most oversold stocks per their 14-day Relative Strength Index are McCormick (MKC), Real Good Food (RGF), and PSQ Holdings (PSQH).

All week - The United Auto Workers strike threatens to hit a tipping point if it extends much further. The slow progress in negotiations between the union and Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), and Stellantis (STLA) could impact guidance updates from automakers and auto industry suppliers as the earnings season ramps up.

Earnings watch -  Notable companies due to report include Charles Schwab (SCHW) and Equity Lifestyle Props (ELS).

All week - Investor events scheduled include the Charles Schwab's (SCHW) Fall Business Update, Equillium's (EQ) Analyst & Investor Day, and Jefferies Financial Group's (JEF) Investor Day.

All day - The three-day WSJ Tech Live event will include presentations by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Roblox (RBLX) CEO David Baszucki, and Arm Holdings (ARM) CEO Rene Haas.

All day - The post-IPO quiet period ends on a number of stocks to set up the potential for share price moves as analysts weigh in. Watch for ratings on Instacart (CART), Klaviyo (KVYO), MDB Capital (MDBH), SR Bancorp (SRBK), and Davis Commodities (DTCK) to pour in.

3:30 p.m. Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker will speak virtually on the economic outlook before the National Association of Corporate Directors Webinar.

Tuesday - October 17


Earnings watch -  Notable companies due to report include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Bank of America (BAC), Lockheed Martin (LMT), United Airlines (UAL), and Goldman Sachs (GS).

All day - The Lytham Partners Fall Investor Conference aimed at small-cap companies will include participation from Anterix (ATEX), aTyr Pharma (LIFE), ImmuCell Corporation (ICCC), Jaguar Health (JAGX), Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG), and SKYX Platforms Corp. (SKYX).

All day - Investor events scheduled include BlackBerry's (BB) summit and investor briefing from New York City. Other key events include DarioHealth's (DRIO) Investor Day 2023 and Helen of Troy's (HELE) Investor Day.

All day - NCR (NCR) will officially split into two companies. The ATM business will be called NCR Atleos and the digital commerce business will be called NCR Voyix.

All day - Baidu (BIDU) will hold its Baidu World 2023 event in Beijing. The company says it will release multiple AI-native applications at the event and introduce the latest progress in foundation models. Analysts think the update on the ChatGPT-like tool Ernie Bot could spark interest in the stock.

All day - Sony (SONY) is expected to launch the ability to play cloud-streamed PS5 games on the PS5 in Japan. The feature will be available in Europe and North America later in the month.

All day - The IPO lockup period expires on U Power Limited (UCAR). The Chinese EV battery-swapping tech stock trades well below its $6 per share IPO pricing level.

8:00 a.m. New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams to moderate a discussion with Intel (INTC) Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger at Economic Club of New York event.

8:30 a.m. The September Retail Sales report will be released to expectations for a modest 0.1% increase in the core rate.

Wednesday - October 18


Earnings watch -  Notable companies due to report include Tesla (TSLA), Procter & Gamble (PG), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Netflix (NFLX), U.S. Bancorp (USB), Las Vegas Sands (LVS), and Morgan Stanley (MS).

All day - Oracle (ORCL) management will give a product keynote presentation at the company's SuiteWorld event in Las Vegas.

All day - The IPO lockup period expires on Jayud Global Logistics (JYD).

2:00 p.m. The Federal Reserve will release its Beige Book report.

5:30 p.m. Tesla (TSLA) will hold its Q3 earnings conference call. Options trading on Tesla implies a 7% swing up or down for shares after the report drops. Tesla shed just under 10% after its last earnings report. Fisker (FSR) and Rivian Automotive (RIVN) are the two EV stocks that correlate the closest to Tesla.

Thursday - October 19


Earnings watch -  Notable companies due to report include AT&T (T), Philip Morris International (PM), Union Pacific (UNP), CSX (CSX), and American Airlines Group (AAL).

All day - Notable investor events include Hewlett Packard Enterprise's (HPE) Securities Analyst Meeting, Vista Outdoor's (VSTO) Investor Day, and Cytokinetics' (CYTK) Virtual Investor & Analyst Day.

12:00 p.m. - Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at the Economic Club of New York just two days ahead of a blackout period for Fed members. Analysts will be watching if the strong jobs and CPI data for September push Powell to make hawkish comments to support the expectation by many of higher rates for longer.

Friday - October 20


Earnings watch -  Notable companies due to report include American Express (AXP) and Schlumberger (SLB).

All day - The healthcare sector will see one of its bigger conferences of the year begin in Madrid. ESMO Congress is an annual oncology meeting that has led to share price jolts for participating companies in the past. The first abstracts drop on October 16. Bank of America previewed that the most watched readout could be from the Mariposa trial, with Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ) amivantamab attempting to knock off Tagrisso as the heir apparent in frontline lung cancer. Readouts from Ambrx Biopharma (AMAM), Revolution Medicines (RVMD), Eisai (OTCPK:ESALF), Relay Therapeutics (RLAY), Olema Pharmaceuticals (OLMA), and ORIC Pharmaceuticals (ORIC) are also being circled by analysts as potential catalysts. Some of the other companies due to present abstracts include AstraZeneca (AZN), Mirati Therapeutics (MRTX), Seagen (SGEN), Merck (MRK), and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY).

All day - Amazon's (AMZN) Twitch property will hold its TwitchCon event in Las Vegas.

9:00 a.m. - Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker will speak on the economic outlook before the Risk Management Association Philadelphia Chapter Meeting.