US Earnings to Watch: Salesforce, Pinduoduo, Bilibili, Kroger

US retailers’ better-than-feared earnings earlier this week are boosting sentiment just before Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping sprees kick in. Best Buy’s outlook boost and Abercrombie’s beat sparked a Tuesday rally in their shares. Nevertheless, profit-eroding markdowns at department stores including Nordstrom have cast doubts on whether holiday sales could still hold up this time around, as consumers trade down on discretionary goods. Decades-high cost of living and macro uncertainty could be more than enough to weigh down the upcoming shopping frenzy, as a Goldman Sachs survey of 1,000 US consumers showed nearly half are planning on spending less during this festive season.

Next week, investors will see how well grocery giant Kroger has taken advantage of shoppers’ pullback from nonessentials, and whether Chinese group-buying site Pinduoduo could benefit from a similar shift in a country that is still heavily impacted by Covid lockdowns.