Urban Outfitters earns, consumer confidence, new home sales

A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:

RETAIL WOES

Urban Outfitters serves up its third-quarter report card Monday.

Wall Street analysts expect the clothing and accessories chain will report lower earnings and revenue for the August-October quarter versus a year earlier. That would echo the company’s second-quarter results. Like other retailers, Urban Outfitters has benefited from strong online sales growth during the pandemic, but has also been hurt by falling in-store sales.

WANING CONFIDENCE

A gauge of U.S. consumer confidence is expected to be down for the second straight month.

Economists project that the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index slipped to 98.7 this month. It fell to 100.9 in October as a new wave of coronavirus cases appeared across the country. A reading of 90 or better reflects a healthy economy. Still, the index remains well below pre-pandemic levels. The Conference Board issues its latest snapshot of consumer confidence Tuesday.

Consumer confidence, by month:

June 98.3

July 91.7

Aug. 86.3

Sept. 101.3

Oct. 100.9

Nov. (est.) 98.7

Source: FactSet

EYE ON HOUSING

The Commerce Department delivers its October tally of new U.S. home sales Wednesday.

Sales have been climbing this year after a pause in March and April due to coronavirus lockdowns. Ultra-low mortgage rates and a dearth of resale properties for sale have helped drive demand for newly built homes. Sales pulled back in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 959,000 units. Economists expect sales rebounded in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 968,000.

New home sales, seasonally adjusted annual rate, by month:

May 698,000

June 840,000

July 965,000

Aug. 994,000

Sept. 959,000

Oct. (est.) 968,000

Source: FactSet