Companies Reporting: Ocado, Persimmon, Experian

Our regular look at the FTSE 350 and other companies reporting from 13 – 17 January 2025.

• Christmas performance set to deliver growth for Ocado
• Persimmon aiming to lay foundations for a solid 2025
• TSMC betting big on long-term demand for AI infrastructure
• US mortgage market in focus for Experian

Ocado, Q4 Trading Statement, Tuesday 14 January

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown: Ocado’s LON:OCDO performance has been moving in the right direction, with sales momentum growing. The latest Kantar analysis was full of Christmas cheer showing Ocado saw the biggest growth among the grocers during the festive period. The tie-up with M&S has strengthened, with the brand clearly a big draw for customers, and with Marks and Sparks revealing some magical grocery numbers of its own for the third quarter, as like-for-like food sales rose 8.9%, this bodes well for Ocado’s update next week. M&S, though, has flagged more challenging conditions are expected over the coming year in terms of shopper behaviour. Ocado’s guidance will be watched closely.

However, investors are still anxious to see progress in Ocado’s Technology Solutions business which is viewed as the biggest lever to pull in terms of future growth. There has been a disappointing pause in its retail partners’ plans for more customer fulfilment centres using Ocado’s robotic systems, with higher interest rates weighing on investment and expansion. Ultimately, Ocado needs to move the dial more in the right direction here, before its valuation has a chance of seeing a significant recovery, and with prospects for multiple interest rate cuts in the US fading, with fewer also expected in the UK, this still looks like an uphill struggle for now.

• UK Stock Market News: Ocado, Smiths, JD Sports

Persimmon, Q4 Trading Statement, Tuesday 14 January

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown: Persimmon’s LON:PSN faced its fair share of struggles over recent years. From their peak, both volumes and operating margins have fallen much harder than the broader sector. But early signs of promise are emerging in some forward-looking metrics. And while sales rates and price increases are modest, they’ve bucked the sector’s declining trend of late. Next week’s trading update will show whether that positive momentum continued into the new year.

Build cost inflation has been back on the rise, so it will be interesting to get an update on where Persimmon sees this tracking over 2025. The group’s in-house materials business is a key differentiator and should offer some protection from this. The new government promised to ease planning consent, which would be favourable to Persimmon given its large land bank and low average selling prices. Any updated timelines on this front would be welcomed news.

• Three Quick Facts: Persimmon, Marks & Spencer, JD Wetherspoon
• Three Quick Facts: Beazley, Helios Towers, Persimmon

Experian, Q3 Trading Statement, Wednesday 15 January

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown: Experian LON:EXPN enters its third-quarter trading update on the back of a solid first half. Despite challenges such as weaker performance in Brazil, currency impacts, and slower growth in US Consumer Services due to tough comparisons, Experian delivered strong and dependable top-line growth alongside impressive margin expansion.

The US credit market remains central to Experian’s operations, so any updates on areas like US mortgages will be closely watched. While there had been hope for a rebound in mortgage activity as rates started to decline, the Trump election has introduced uncertainty with some of his inflationary policies potentially keeping rates higher and delaying any recovery.

• UK Stock Market News: Experian, Currys, Fiinu
• Three Quick Facts: Ocado, Experian, B&M

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), Q4 Earnings, Thursday 9 January

Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown: The world’s leading semiconductor foundry expects to report revenue of around $26.5bn in next week’s fourth-quarter results. That’s a growth rate of around 35%, broadly in line with the trends seen in the previous quarter, which were driven by Artificial Intelligence and Smartphone demand.

The market’s attention will be firmly focussed on the outlook for 2025. Consensus forecasts are currently looking for robust but slightly slower growth of around 26%. Management thinks that AI demand is here to stay, and there are signs of a further pick-up in infrastructure spending plans in the data centre space.

TSMC [TPE:2330] is investing heavily to keep up with demand. This year an increased investment budget is likely, up from the $30bn or so earmarked for 2024, which shouldn’t cause any undue pressure on the company’s robust finances.

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