- ADP jobs report, ISM PMI surveys, and more AI-linked tech earnings will be in focus this week.
- Palantir is expected to report strong earnings and guidance, making it an appealing stock to buy.
- Pfizer’s expected earnings dive and sales decline suggest a more cautious approach.
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Stocks on Wall Street ended higher on Friday, with the major indices notching strong weekly and monthly gains as investors shook off government shutdown fears and renewed trade war tensions.
Source: Investing.com
The benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.7% for the week and around 2% in October. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.2% on the week and 4.2% for all of October, capping a 7-month winning streak, its longest since early 2018.
Meanwhile, the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average tacked on 0.8% during the week and 1.7% for the month. The Dow posted its sixth positive month in a row for the first time since 2018.
More volatility could be in store in the coming days as investors assess the outlook for the economy, inflation, interest rates and corporate earnings amid the prolonged U.S. government shutdown.
The federal shutdown appears set to cancel another monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, normally due on Friday. As such, Wednesday’s release of the ADP employment report for October takes on additional importance. In addition, the ISM manufacturing and services PMIs will also be closely watched.
Source: Investing.com
On Friday, traders were pricing in a 60% probability of a December rate cut, down from 98% a week ago, following hawkish comments from various Fed officials, including chair Jerome Powell.
Elsewhere, the busy earnings season continues with reports due from several notable companies such as Advanced Micro Devices, (NASDAQ:PLTR), Robinhood, Super Micro Computer, Qualcomm, ARM Holdings, Shopify, McDonald’s, (NYSE:PFE), Novo Nordisk, Uber, DoorDash, Airbnb, AppLovin, and DraftKings.
In addition, Tesla hosts a crucial annual shareholder meeting on Thursday. In focus are the votes for CEO Elon Musk’s new $1 trillion pay package and Tesla investment in Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI.
Regardless of which direction the market goes, below I highlight one stock likely to be in demand and another which could see fresh downside. Remember though, my timeframe is just for the week ahead, Monday, November 3 – Friday, Nov. 7.
Stock To Buy: Palantir
Palantir has been on a tear in 2025, with shares surging 165% year-to-date, trading at all-time highs around $200. The company’s AI Platform (AIP) is fuelling this rally, transforming how enterprises and governments handle massive datasets for real-time decision-making.
Ahead of its Q3 earnings on Monday after market close, analysts are forecasting a blockbuster quarter and strong forward-looking guidance that could propel the stock even higher. A call with CEO Alex Karp is planned for 5:00PM ET.
Market participants foresee a sizable swing in PLTR stock after the print drops, according to the options market, with a possible implied move of +/-10.5% in either direction. Shares gapped up 12% after the last earnings report in August.
Source: InvestingPro
Profit estimates have been revised upward 20 times in the last 90 days, compared to zero downward revisions, reflecting growing confidence among analysts. Adjusted EPS is pegged at $0.17, a 70% jump from last year. Revenue is projected to surge 50% annually to $1.09 billion, amid booming demand for its AI-powered software solutions, particularly within U.S. government agencies and the defense sector.
Additionally, Palantir is well-positioned to secure lucrative contracts from U.S. commercial businesses prioritizing software and AI solutions over traditional hardware and equipment.
Possible chatter about a stock split will be of special interest.
Source: Investing.com
PLTR stock closed at $200.47 on Friday, just off its all-time high of $202.06. Despite concerns about its valuation, the technical picture for Palantir is exceptionally strong, with “strong buy” consensus across all major timeframes. With an RSI of 71, the stock is in overbought territory—typically a cautionary sign, but in the context of pre-earnings momentum and strong fundamentals, this suggests powerful buying pressure.
As InvestingPro points out, Palantir flashes a Financial Health Overall Score of 3.46 (“GREAT” label, Grade B), powered by EXCELLENT grades in price momentum, profit, cash flow, and growth.
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Stock to Sell: Pfizer
In stark contrast, Pfizer continues to struggle with multiple headwinds, reporting what is expected to be another quarter of declining sales and earnings.
The pharmaceutical giant is scheduled to deliver its Q3 financial results on Tuesday at 6:45AM ET and the outlook is bleak. Market participants expect a possible implied move of +/-4.7% in either direction in PFE stock after the print drops.
The core challenge for Pfizer is the dramatic and ongoing collapse of its COVID-19 franchise revenue. Beyond the COVID revenue decline, Pfizer confronts the ongoing challenge of patent expirations on key products that have historically driven significant portions of the company’s profitability.
Source: InvestingPro
Wall Street has grown increasingly bearish on PFE ahead of the report, with all 15 of analysts surveyed by InvestingPro revising profit estimates downward over the past three months.
Pfizer is seen earning $0.66 per share, marking a steep 37.7% drop from the prior year. Meanwhile, revenue is forecast to fall 5% year-over-year to $16.8 billion amid increased competition in its non-COVID portfolio.
Investors will likely watch for more news on Pfizer’s contested battle with Novo Nordisk to acquire obesity player Metsera. More importantly, any cautious guidance for the remainder of the year could be punished by a market that is looking for growth, not just management of decline.
Source: Investing.com
PFE stock ended Friday’s session at $24.65. Technically, the daily and weekly signals point to “sell” or “strong sell,” flagging persistent downward pressure. The stock sits and not far above its 52-week low ($20.91), suggesting any rebound faces stiff resistance.
It is worth noting that Pfizer posts a 2.98 Financial Health Score, reflecting concerns around cash flow and dwindling growth prospects.
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Disclosure: At the time of writing, I am long on the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq 100 via the SPDR® S&P 500 ETF (SPY), and the . I am also long on the , Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP), and .
I regularly rebalance my portfolio of individual stocks and ETFs based on ongoing risk assessment of both the macroeconomic environment and companies’ financials.
The views discussed in this article are solely the opinion of the author and should not be taken as investment advice.
Follow Jesse Cohen on X/Twitter @JesseCohenInv for more stock market analysis and insight.