Stocks to Track Next Week: Alibaba, Walmart, HSBC, Rio Tinto, and Lloyds.
As trade tariffs and economic data continue to dominate market attention, the coming week will also bring several important company earnings reports. Key companies like Alibaba, Walmart, HSBC, Rio Tinto, and Lloyds will be under investor scrutiny.
Alibaba (BABA) is set to release its latest quarterly results, with attention on the growth of its cloud business amid the company’s ongoing push into artificial intelligence (AI).
Walmart (WMT) will also announce quarterly results, which could provide insight into consumer sentiment, especially as inflation in the US rises.
In the UK, major banks will be reporting their earnings, starting with HSBC (HSBA.L) on Wednesday. Investors will be watching for details on the restructuring plans of the new CEO.
Another key focus will be earnings from FTSE-listed miners, including Rio Tinto (RIO.L), which is due to report results this week.
Lastly, Lloyds (LLOY.L), a major UK bank, will also release its earnings, though analysts expect a decline in pre-tax income.
Here's a closer look at what to expect:
Alibaba (9988.HK, BABA) – Third Quarter Results Release on Thursday, 20 February
Alibaba's stock has risen nearly 50% since the start of the year, driven by excitement around the company’s push into AI. Investors are particularly focused on the company's cloud business and its potential for growth in this area.
On Thursday, Alibaba’s chairman, Joseph Tsai, confirmed reports of the company’s partnership with Apple (AAPL) to bring AI capabilities to iPhones in China. Tsai said, "Apple has been very selective. They talked to a number of companies in China, and in the end they choose to do business with us," adding, "They want to use our AI to power their phones."
Earlier this week, Alibaba denied rumors that it was planning to invest in Chinese AI developer DeepSeek. This speculation came after Alibaba launched a new version of its AI model, Qwen 2.5, which it claimed surpassed the DeepSeek-V3 model.
In its second-quarter report, Alibaba revealed that AI-related product revenue within its cloud business had grown at triple-digit rates year-on-year for the fifth consecutive quarter. Overall, the cloud business generated 29.6 billion Chinese yuan (£3.2bn), up 7% year-on-year.
Derren Nathan, head of equity analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented on Alibaba's performance: "The cloud business hasn’t quite reached the heights of its American peers but saw strong profit growth last quarter."
"AI is a key driver of cloud consumption and the emergence of Chinese wannabe, DeepSeek, has caused quite a stir," Nathan added. "The company’s denied its intention to take a stake in the start-up but has also released its own updated AI-engine alongside some punchy performance claims. Against this backdrop, investor sentiment has strengthened materially, so there is some pressure to deliver."
Nathan also stated that Alibaba is expected to report 9% growth in the cloud business for the third quarter.
Overall, Alibaba's second-quarter revenue grew by 5% year-on-year, reaching 236.5 billion Chinese yuan (£25.8bn). Nathan anticipates that this figure will have increased by 7%, reaching 280 billion Chinese yuan in the third quarter.
"Markets find out next week how the eCommerce giant’s core business has performed against a background of strengthening Chinese retail sales," Nathan concluded.
Stay tuned as the market’s focus will be on how these companies navigate the shifting economic landscape and deliver on their earnings expectations.
Walmart (WMT) – Fourth-Quarter Earnings Release on Thursday, 20 February
As one of the largest retailers globally by sales, Walmart’s (WMT) earnings results are highly anticipated by Wall Street, especially amid ongoing inflationary pressures.
Recent data released on Wednesday revealed that US inflation rose more than expected in January, with the consumer price index (CPI) increasing by 3% year-on-year. This was higher than economist forecasts of 2.9%.
Given this, investors will be closely watching Walmart’s results for insight into the health of the US consumer.
Shares of Walmart closed Thursday’s session at a new all-time high of $105.05 (£83.25) per share, reflecting an impressive 86% increase over the past year. In the third quarter, Walmart reported sales of $169.59bn, surpassing the expected $167.5bn. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.58 also exceeded expectations of $0.53.
Foot traffic at Walmart stores grew by 3.1% in the third quarter, surpassing the forecasted 2.82%, and e-commerce sales jumped 22%, well above expectations of 2.22%.
On the strength of these solid results, Walmart raised its guidance for the full year, now forecasting net sales growth between 4.8% and 5.1%. The retailer also guided for adjusted earnings per share to be between $2.42 and $2.47, up from the previous range of $2.35 to $2.43.
HSBC (HSBA.L) – Full-Year Results Release on Wednesday, 19 February
In October, Georges Elhedery unveiled a significant overhaul of HSBC’s (HSBA.L) structure, shortly after taking over as the bank's CEO.
The restructuring initiative, which took effect at the start of the year, divided the bank into four distinct businesses: Hong Kong, UK, corporate and institutional banking, as well as international wealth and premier banking. HSBC (HSBA.L) stated that this restructure was intended to reduce "duplication of processes and decision making" within the company.
Investors are now eagerly awaiting more details on these changes when HSBC reports its full-year results on Wednesday.
According to a report by the Financial Times on Friday, HSBC is preparing to reveal $1.5bn in annual cost savings from the restructuring in next week’s results.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that HSBC (HSBA.L) is planning to initiate a new round of job cuts at its investment bank next week. At the time of writing, a spokesperson for HSBC had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK's request for comment.
In the third quarter, HSBC saw a 10% increase in quarterly pre-tax profits, which rose to $8.5bn. The bank also announced an additional $3bn share buyback plan.
However, the bank’s net interest income (NII)—the difference between what it pays to savers and receives from borrowers—fell 17% compared to the same quarter last year. Additionally, its net interest margin declined by 1.46%.
Looking ahead to the upcoming results, Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.L), commented, "Deposit trends are worth keeping in mind, savers have been easing off their transition to longer term accounts, but HSBC is more sensitive to migration than its peers."
"Loan defaults will also be a hot topic with HSBC seeing its market leading credit quality slip a little of late," he added.
Britzman also mentioned, "To the 2024 numbers, $65.2bn in net operating income is expected to generate around $31.7bn of profit before tax."
Rio Tinto (RIO.L) – Full-Year Results Release on Wednesday, 19 February
Rio Tinto (RIO.L) is set to release its full-year results on Wednesday, 19 February, joining fellow FTSE-listed mining giants Antofagasta (ANTO.L) and Glencore (GLEN.L), both of which are also reporting next week.
Investment experts from AJ Bell, including Russ Mould, Danni Hewson, and Dan Coatsworth, have highlighted several challenges facing the mining sector over the past year. These include concerns over China’s economy and its demand for raw materials, cost price inflation, and mixed commodity prices.
"Rio Tinto’s biggest earner is iron ore where the price is down by nearly a fifth in the past 12 months, a trend that swamps gains in its other key metals of aluminium and copper," they explained.
A key point of interest for investors has been reports of discussions between Rio Tinto and Glencore about a potential merger. However, it was later revealed that talks did not progress further.
Mould, Hewson, and Coatsworth noted: "Rio Tinto’s management will doubtless be keen to keep any such advances at more than an arm’s length ... and shareholders seem happier for miners to keep a tight rein on spending and mergers and acquisitions, even after the substantial reductions in debt and improvements in balance sheets of the past decade or so."
Despite this, investors will be paying attention to how Rio Tinto’s $6.7bn acquisition of Arcadium Lithium is progressing.
Regarding company performance, the investment experts forecast that Rio Tinto’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) for 2024 and 2025 will remain relatively stable, estimated at $23bn to $24bn. The miner’s full-year dividend for last year is expected to drop to $3.86, marking its lowest level since 2018.
"No increase is expected in 2025 either, as Rio digests Arcadium and works on several major projects, including Pilbara, the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia, the Simandou iron ore venture in Guinea and expansion at the Argentinian Rincon lithium mine, where first production began last November and Rio’s board has approved a $2.5bn budget to ramp up production to 60,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate a year," the experts said.
They also pointed out that Palliser Capital has been advocating for Rio Tinto to move its primary stock.
Lloyds (LLOY.L) – Full-Year Results Release on Thursday, 20 February
Following Barclays (BARC.L) and NatWest (NWG.L), which both reported results surpassing expectations this week, investor focus is now shifting to Lloyds (LLOY.L). While these two banks saw their share prices fall post-results, the market response suggests the outcomes were not enough to impress investors.
Lloyds is expected to report a decline in pre-tax income for the year, forecasting a figure of £6.4bn ($8.07bn), down from £7.5bn in 2023. Furthermore, analysts are predicting an even further drop to £5.5bn in 2025.
Investment experts at AJ Bell, including Russ Mould, Danni Hewson, and Dan Coatsworth, noted that this expected decline is "thanks in part to a decline in net interest margins (as the Bank of England slowly cuts headline rates) and provisions relating to the Financial Conduct Authority’s investigation into the car financing market."
They explained that analysts believe net interest income (NII) for the year will come in at £12.8bn, lower than the £13.8bn recorded in 2023. They also expect Lloyds to report a NII of £13.4bn for 2025. "Litigation and conduct costs have also been minimal in 2024, but analysts and investors will be on the lookout here for any comments on the car financing market, where Lloyds took a £450m provision in the final period of 2023," they added. "The government has sought to intervene to cap any fine, but the Supreme Court will sit in judgement here in early April."
"Analysts expect another hit in 2025, when conduct costs are seen rising to £1.5bn from £440m in 2024 and £675m in 2023," they said.
Regarding cash returns, analysts anticipate that Lloyds will declare a total dividend of 3.09p for 2024, up from 2.65p in 2023. The bank is also expected to announce a £2bn buyback.
"Such bumper cash returns, with the prospect of more to come in 2025, may be the biggest reason of all behind the storming share price performance across all of the FTSE 100’s (^FTSE) Big Five banks," the experts said. "However, it will be interesting to see if the torrent of buybacks abates now the shares are no longer as cheap as they were."
