Companies Reporting: Halma, JD Sports, Nvidia

Our regular look at the FTSE 350 and other companies reporting from 18 – 22 November.

• Payroll costs and higher prices could see inflation creep up
• Halma expects to keep things ticking along
• JD Sports hoping to kick on in the second half
• Scalability in the spotlight at NVIDIA’s Q3 results

Inflation update (covering October), Wednesday 20 November

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown: Inflation is likely to have crept back up again but compared to the scary levels of the last few years, this increase is unlikely to shock. CPI hit 1.7% in September partly pulled down by lower airfares and weaker energy prices compared to September 2023. Annual private sector regular average weekly earnings growth has also continued to fall but it still remains elevated, and some companies may still be passing on those payroll costs in terms of higher prices for some goods and services. But consumers have been showing wariness, sniffing out grocery bargains and still being cautious in terms of big-ticket purchases.

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The Bank of England expects inflation to climb to around 2.75% before the end of the year, but this forecast has already been toned down. If the inflation reading comes in much hotter than predicted, there will be a reassessment of interest rate predictions. At the moment, financial markets reckon it’s highly likely that policymakers will press pause on cuts next month. The chances of no change to the base rate currently being put at above 80%.

Halma, Half Year Results, Thursday 21 November

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown: Halma’s LON:HLMA expected to keep things ticking over in next week’s half-year results with organic revenue growth, underlying operating margin expansion, and strong cash generation all on show. Trading details at the end of September show performance isn’t shooting the lights out. But that’s kind of what Halma does well – consistent delivery in the face of varied economic climates.

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All eyes will be open for any detail on the Healthcare businesses where budget constraints are keeping a lid on customer orders. Aside from that, it’s the usual acquisition pipeline commentary that’s worth watching for, given the strategy relies as much on acquisitions as it does organic growth.

JD Sports, Q3 Trading Statement, Thursday 21 November

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown: JD Sports LON:JD. had a shaky start to the year, but things have since picked up, with both sales and profits moving higher over the first half. It was pleasing to see Europe, North America and Asia Pacific markets all posting double-digit sales growth. But the UK market remains challenging and volatile, and full-year profit guidance got a small downgrade as a result. Recent retail sector has pointed to increased discounting at shops to help keep the tills ringing.

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JD’s trying to offset this by tightening its belt and streamlining operations. Investors will be hoping that means there won’t be further downgrades to the full-year outlook in next week’s results. The market is also keen to hear how the integration of US-based Hibbett is progressing. The deal has substantially increased the group’s footprint in the US, but there’s a lot of work to do to make sure a deal of this size pulls in the expected benefits.

Nvidia, Q3 Results, Thursday 21 November

Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown: Nvidia’s NASDAQ:NVDA guidance suggests that next week’s third-quarter results will deliver revenue growth of around 80% to $32.5bn. Markets forecasts expect that number to be a little higher. If NVIDIA continues its strong run of beating market expectations, things could be better still. There’s likely to be more emphasis however on the outlook for the final three months of the year, where consensus is currently looking for revenue of $36.6bn.

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Any steer as to how well the recently launched ultra-fast Blackwell chip is selling will also be closely scrutinised. There’s no shortage of demand as the likes of Meta, Microsoft, Google, Amazon look to gain an edge in the AI race. But there remain some unanswered questions about NVIDIA’s supply chain’s ability to keep pace.

This article has been brought to you in association with Hargreaves Lansdown. All opinions expressed in this article are from the analysts and do not necessarily represent the opinions of The Armchair Trader.

FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and selected other companies scheduled to report