The Week Ahead
April 13, 2026
Economic news
Oil Prices & The Iran Conflict
It’s difficult to keep up with the ongoing developments over the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, but the recent announcement of a two-week ceasefire is worth noting. To say that the conflict has rocked energy prices would be an understatement. What will be interesting now is how oil and gas prices react. Drivers are certainly paying a hefty toll at the pump right now. Unless this ceasefire leads to true deescalation, the pain may continue for quite some time.
Initial Jobless Claims
U.S. initial jobless claims will be reported Thursday April 16th. They have been trending down compared to a year ago, but we saw a spike in early April to 219,000. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the results reflect a “robust” labor market.1
Earnings Related Market Movers
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)
The bank reports on April 14th, and investors will likely be looking to see if the firm can reinvigorate top line growth after a sluggish 2025. JPMorgan did end the year with a strong finish in the fourth quarter with reported revenue increasing by over 7% year over year to $45.8 billion, but total results for the year were flat, and net income suffered.2
Perhaps more important to investors than JPMorgan’s results, was the commentary Jamie Dimon provided on the markets and economy: “The U.S. economy has remained resilient. While labor markets have softened, conditions do not appear to be worsening. Meanwhile, consumers continue to spend, and businesses generally remain healthy. These conditions could persist for some time, particularly with ongoing fiscal stimulus, the benefits of deregulation and the Fed’s recent monetary policy. However, as usual, we remain vigilant, and markets seem to underappreciate the potential hazards—including from complex geopolitical conditions, the risk of sticky inflation and elevated asset prices.”
No doubt that investors will be listening to hear if he has changed his stance in their Q1 results. In his 2025 letter to shareholders, he has already warned that high taxes stand to cause companies and people to leave cities like New York.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Johnson & Johnson reports on April 14th. The medical technology juggernaut has had low but steady growth since 2023, and finished 2025 with things seemingly heading in the right direction. Reported sales increased 6% year over year, with a 90.5% increase in earnings per diluted share to $11.03.3
Johnson & Johnson doesn’t provide GAAP based guidance due to too many unforeseen variables. That said, analyst estimates are expecting Q1 2026 results of around $2.68 per share, with full year estimates of $11.56, which would mark a modest increase from 2025’s earnings of $11.03 per diluted share.4
The big thing for Johnson & Johnson is the pipeline, and it will be interesting to see new products on which they are working.
Netflix (NFLX)
Netflix saw its stock jump roughly 30% from its six-month low back in late February amid contention over its bid to take over Warner Bros Discovery (WBD). Now the stock is in limbo; up a grand total of 9% for the year (at the time of writing) after giving up on the deal.
Netflix is reportedly announcing earnings on April 16th. The streaming giant will need to prove that its platform is still primed for growth despite a lack of a strong acquisition target. Guidance from the fourth quarter anticipated earnings of $0.76 per diluted share in Q1 2026. That would be a year over year improvement of 15.15%. On a trailing basis, the company is trading at roughly 39.27 times earnings.5
Overall, it should be intriguing to see how the streaming platform performs now that it is no longer trying to acquire Warner Bros. The company will be dependent on organic content growth and finding new areas for exploration. In the company’s fourth quarter results, it mentioned video podcasts as an area of focus. In an ever-crowded streaming space, it’s a question of who finds the next big idea first.
1 https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/jobless-claims
2 https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmc/jpmorgan-chase-and-co/investor-relations/documents/quarterly-earnings/2025/4th-quarter/d868c7ef-1670-465d-ba75-c2b36ddbcc6b.pdf
3 https://s203.q4cdn.com/636242992/files/doc_financials/2025/q4/4Q25-Earnings-Press-Release-Final-Draft-01-20-26-6PM-With-Attachments.pdf
4 https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/jnj/analystestimates?mod=mw_quote_tab
5 https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2025/q4/FINAL-Q4-25-Shareholder-Letter.pdf
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