Equities week ahead: Walt Disney, Home Depot, MicroStrategy

Walt Disney Q4 earnings preview

The entertainment giant that operates across media, entertainment, and theme parks is releasing Q4 earnings ahead of the market opening on Thursday, November 14th. Analysts expect an EPS of $1.09, which is up 32.9% from the same quarter a year earlier. Disney has beaten profit estimates for the past four quarters. Meanwhile, revenue is expected to come in at $22.5 billion, marking a 6% increase compared to last year.

The entertainment business could be a mixed bag. The linear TV business is underperforming due to lower advertising and declining affiliate revenue. However, there should be a stronger picture on the streaming front. However, subscriber growth was somewhat modest at 700K subscribers last quarter. That said, advertising-related revenue and Disney streaming offerings have picked up. Meanwhile, there are concerns over Disney's theme park operations. This segment has been performing solidly since the pandemic, but the near-term outlook remains mixed owing to higher costs. The outlook for the coming quarter could be soft, with the experience sector operating income expected to decline by mid-single digits due to the Olympics in the summer and cyclical factors in China.

How to trade DIS earnings

Walt Disney's share price fell to a low of 83 in August. Since then, the price has been slowly grinding higher, rising above the 50 and 100 SMAs as it moves towards the 200 SMA, which is the next target for bulls at 100. Above here, 107 cones are in play.

Support is seen at 95, the November low, and 93, the 50 and 100 SMA.

Home Depot Q3 earnings preview

Home improvement retailer Home Depot will report Q3 earnings on Tuesday before the market opens and is expected to report EPS of $3.64 on revenue of $39.13 billion compared to EPS of $3.81 on revenue of $37.7 billion in the same quarter year earlier. This equates to revenue growth of 3.8% while earnings are expected to fall by 4.5%. In the previous quarter, Home Depot remained cautious about weaker-than-expected sales in the second half of the year amid high interest rates and consumer uncertainty. In August, CFO Richard Macphail said that consumers were delaying buying and selling houses owing to the high interest rates and have deferred spending on bigger projects. Investors will want to see if this is still the case.

How to trade HD earnings

The price has been steadily climbing since the May low of 320, creating a series of higher highs and lower lows. In mid-October, it reached an all-time high of 421 and has eased lower but recovered above the 50 SMA and 400. Buyers will loom to extend the uptrend to 421 and fresh all-time highs.

Sellers will look to take out the 50 SMA at 394, and a break below 382 creates a lower low.

MicroStrategy

MicroStrategy, Bitcoin stocks, and miners will be in focus as the Bitcoin price surges to record highs of 80,000 following Trump's election victory. Trump portrayed himself as a crypto-friendly candidate in the presidential election campaign and pledged to de-regulate the sector. With a strong mandate and platform with which to implement his policies, Trump is expected to boost the sector. Bitcoin ETFs saw record inflows the day following Trump's election victory, evidence of Bitcoin adoption and institutional interest rising. With Bitcoin's price on the rise, MicroStrategy's large-scale buys could spark further interest and potential price hikes, helping it ride a wave of growing cryptocurrency demand and potentially cementing its position as one of the most influential firms in the crypto space.

The share price has increased over 460% over the past year and is up nearly 300% year to date, trading at all-time highs.

How to trade MSTR

MicroStrategy comfortably trades about these 5100 and 200 moving averages, which point to strong buying pressure and a sign of clear uptrend momentum. The RSI is in overbought territory, suggesting a period of consolidation or even a pullback.

As long as the price remains above 220 the uptrend remains. A f\ll below this level creates a lower low.