5 Things to Watch This Week: WWDC, E3, Taxes, Beauty and Netflix
From new iProducts to a tax giant's biggest quarterly report of the year, there will be plenty of news waiting to break in the coming days. Let's go over some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street.
1. Apple on the Spot: Shares of Apple (AAPL) have shed more than a third of their value since the iPhone 5 hit the market last year, but now the class act of Cupertino gets a strong opportunity to win back investors.
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference takes place this week. The five-day event for developers kicks off in San Francisco on Monday, and it won't be just coders and programmers watching. Apple has historically used WWDC to show off updates to its operating system and occasionally new product lines. It's widely expected that Apple will introduce a new streaming music service, but the real news could derive from any fresh insights we get into the consumer tech titan's next smartphones and tablets.
2. Game On, Gamers: The annual E3 conference takes over the massive Los Angeles Convention Center on Tuesday for three days of bliss for video game fans.
The expo is often entertaining and enlightening, but it promises to be a bit more attention-worthy this time around. Sony (SNE) and Microsoft (MSFT) are introducing new video game systems later this year, and this week's expo gives the two giants and developers making games for Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One a chance to show off what gamers should be saving up for ahead of this important holiday shopping season. After more than three years of declining sales the video game industry can't afford to slip again with two new consoles hitting the market.
3. Taxing Results: There aren't too many companies posting quarterly results this week, but one of them will be H&R Block (HRB).
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Being a tax preparer is a seasonal business, and this past quarter included the April 15 tax filing deadline. This is without a doubt H&R Block's most lucrative reporting period, and analysts see it earning $2.61 a share when it reports on Wednesday. Despite a few hiccups earlier this year that delayed the tax filing season, Wall Street's sees significant bottom line improvement from the $2.04 a share that H&R Block earned a year earlier.
4. Playing the Cards That You've Been Dealt: "House of Cards" was a big hit for Netflix (NFLX) in February, but the Kevin Spacey-helmed political drama won't be limited to the service's subscribers anymore.
The entire season becomes available on DVD come Tuesday. Netflix did pay up for exclusive streaming rights, but there was nothing keeping the producers from cashing in by releasing it on DVD a few months later.
The good news for Netflix is that the entire season on DVD costs about as much as three to four months of Netflix's $7.99 a month streaming service. The optical disc release could even be interpreted as a case for the value proposition of Netflix itself. There's also the possibility that non-Netflix subscribers may sign up to the service to stream the second season next year.
5. Beauty is in the Eye of the Certified Beautician: Vanity is always in fashion, and that's why we stock up on beauty products and don't cut our own hair.
Ulta Beauty (ULTA) is living proof. The 550-unit chain of beauty salons that also sell signature products is growing nicely these days, and investors will get a glimpse when the retailer of salon services reports on Tuesday. Wall Street sees double-digit revenue and earnings growth.
Now that's beautiful.
Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz owns shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Netflix, and Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, and Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance. Try any of our newsletter services free for 30 days.
