The Week Ahead
September 28, 2026
Economic news
PCE Inflation
The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE) is meant to show changes in the prices of goods and services purchased by consumers in the U.S.1 While the Consumer Price Index (CPI) attempts to track direct out-of-pocket urban spending, PCE covers broader spending, including things like employer-sponsored health insurance.
With the Fed raising rates, any indicators of inflation will play an important role in determining the future direction of hikes and cuts.
GDP Growth Rate
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) gives us indicators of whether the economy is heading into a recession or expanding. The combination of consumption, investment, government spending, and exports minus imports provides an indicator to policy makers and investors alike as to where things are heading. According to TradingEconomics.com, the U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1.5% in the second quarter of the year.2 This was much slower than last year’s gains of 3.8%. The next report comes out on September 30th.
Earnings Related Market Movers
Carnival (CCL)
Despite cruise line giant Carnival Corporation posting good results in the second quarter, their stock price did not seem to react positively to the trend and is down 30% year to date.
Carnival Corporation reported record adjusted net income of $569 million in the second quarter, which marks a 20% increase over the prior year. The cruise line also reported record revenues of $6.7 billion, and all-time customer deposits of $9.0 billion.3 Despite higher prices at the gas pump, grocery store and more, consumer demand for travel and leisure seemingly remains steady.
Looking ahead, investors will likely have quite a few questions going into the third quarter results. For instance, how have fuel prices affected the bottom line with the Middle Eastern conflict still occurring? Questions like these might explain why shares are down 30%. The company’s next earnings release should be informative of where the industry is heading.
Micron (MU)
Micron shares have been on quite the ride this year. After reporting revenues of $41.46 billion in the fiscal third quarter, a 345% increase year-over-year, Micron saw net income jump from $1.88 billion to $28.24 billion. The stock is up 542% over the last 12 months. Now investors are wondering if there’s more room to run.
It would be asking a lot to see that kind of performance repeated, but Micron seems to be sitting in a good spot within chipmakers as AI continues to be a focal point for the market.4 Research from SeekingAlpha.com noted that “a major high-bandwidth memory shortage implies that the odds are in favor of a massive earnings beat.”
Looking to this next earnings release, Micron provided guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter that included between $49 billion and $51 billion in revenue on a GAAP basis, with diluted earnings per share of $30.73 plus or minus a dollar;5 a notable leap from the fourth quarter of 2025, where diluted earnings per share were $2.83.
Nike (NKE)
Nike has struggled recently to drive growth; revenue was down 9.7% in fiscal 2025 and was flat for fiscal 2026. In all, Nike’s topline has been relatively stagnant since fiscal 2024.
Nike finished fiscal 2026 with flat reported revenues of $46.4 billion, and despite a $0.52 benefit to earnings in the fourth quarter, earnings for the fiscal year declined by 3% to $2.10 per diluted share.6
Looking ahead, investors will be looking to see signs that Nike can invigorate sales and start outpacing estimates. Analyst estimates are calling for fiscal 2027 earnings of $1.69.7 That would give Nike a forward P/E ratio of 21.28 times future earnings.8 That’s not the highest price Nike has ever cost, but the sports retailer is seemingly struggling for growth at the momen[DB2.1]t. With shares are down 43% year to date, it might take some major revenue shifts to see a change in the trend.
1 https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/archive/differences-between-the-consumer-price-index-and-the-personal-consumption-expenditures-price-index.pdf
2 https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-growth
3 https://www.carnivalcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026-2Q-Earnings-Release-Final-Draft_MA_Final.pdf
4 https://seekingalpha.com/article/4948359-micron-old-valuation-metrics-no-longer-matter
5 https://investors.micron.com/news/press-release/2026/Micron-Technology-Inc–Reports-Record-Results-for-the-Third-Quarter-of-Fiscal-2026/default.aspx
6 https://s1.q4cdn.com/806093406/files/doc_financials/2026/q4/Q4-FY26_Press-Release_FINAL.pdf
7 https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/nke/analystestimates?mod=mw_quote_tab
8 https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/NKE/nike/pe-ratio
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