Analyst Connect April 2026: A Guide For Conducting Investment Research

Investment Research Best Practices: Our Resources for Analysts and Readers

We recently came across a resource provided several years ago to analysts and readers, an article presenting details and suggestions on how to approach investment analysis. And we’ve updated that article here.

The key takeaways: Research approaches evolve for the best analysts. There’s always room for improvement. And make sure to keep an open mind and be receptive to other ideas when it comes to sharpening research skills around investment ideas.

We asked analyst Thomas Lott to share his investment research process in this article from August, which may provide another perspective for analysts and readers.

We also have other resources available on our Analyst Connect article page.

The Positives of Presenting Previous Coverage in Follow-Up Articles

We encourage analysts to present follow-up coverage of stocks and investments they analyze for readers. As part of that follow-up effort, we ask analysts to mention previous coverage of a stock they covered in a past article.

There are benefits to referencing past articles in a new article covering a stock. The mention helps remind readers what was covered in the last article, presents a platform for outlining what may have changed (or not changed) since the previous analysis, and what may happen next for the investment in focus. Analysts also benefit from additional pageviews when readers are provided access to an older article.

The reference to past coverage should be at the start of the article. The link to that earlier article and the reference do not need to be in the first paragraph (though this is strongly encouraged) but should be included in the second or third paragraph.

Reference to past coverage is a key component of our follow-up article guidelines.

Our guidelines for follow-up coverage of an investment:

• The follow-up focuses on a key material development or news that could impact the investment premise. This should go beyond just a change in sentiment or rating. And the follow-up should avoid any recap of any new development: The analysis should present a forward-looking angle on how a new development may impact the investment idea.

• The follow-up article should advance the investment narrative. Avoid the use of old data or repurposed content from a previous article. Essentially, the new submission should present something fresh for reader consideration.

• An analyst does not need to present a new rating or sentiment around a material change or catalyst that could impact the premise. But the analyst needs to clearly explain the reason for follow-up coverage, not only for readers but also for editors. Provide a note to editors explaining the need for follow-up coverage.

Our follow-up guidelines can be found here.

Looking for Your Best Commodity-Focused Investment Idea

Do you have high conviction behind a commodity-focused investment idea?

Seeking Alpha is inviting analysts to present their analysis of a commodity idea for its latest article competition. This includes stocks and ETFs. Inverse ETFs are not part of the competition, and the investment vehicle must trade in the US or Canada and have a ticker page on our site.

Analysts can send in an exclusive article with their idea. Add a comment in the “note to the editor” section requesting that the article is entered into the competition. The deadline is midnight, May 31.

Details on the competition can be found here.

Assessing the Energy Business: Tips and Details on Evaluating the Sector

The energy industry is big, with several moving parts within each sector. Valuating investments requires knowledge of the companies operating within the energy sphere. And how investors look at energy companies is influenced by the constantly changing geopolitical scene.

Seeking Alpha analyst Power Hedge, the Investing Group leader behind the Energy Profits in Dividends service, provides details on the different parts of the energy industry, how to evaluate companies within the sector, and how to assess the impact of macro developments on the business.

Power Hedge provides this primer and an assessment of the energy industry here.

Looking Ahead to May

May sees the earnings calendar get busier in the first few weeks, but it hits a peak in week two. The macro story surrounding the war in the Middle East continues to weigh on the market, and each day seems to add to the uncertainty. The economic reports that are released in May will reflect the impact the war is having on a number of different economic indicators, and this could create more volatility.

Seeking Alpha Earnings Calendar

Week 1 (May 1-8)

Even though May kicks off on a Friday, it comes with a number of big earnings reports before the open. At the top of the list, both in terms of market cap and potential importance, are Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX). These two energy behemoths should show some benefits from the elevated oil prices that started in March. In addition to these icons, we will get reports from Aon (AON), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), and Dominion Energy (D), among others. Shifting our focus to Monday, May 4, we expect to hear from AI industry darling Palantir (PLTR), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), The Williams Companies (WMB), and ON Semiconductor (ON), among the many.

Looking out to Tuesday, and the docket just gets busier. Among the companies expected to report are Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Arista Networks (ANET), Shopify (SHOP), Eaton (ETN), and Pfizer (PFE). Looking at Wednesday and Thursday, we see the highest totals of companies for the entire earnings season, with 356 and 443 reports expected, respectively. For Wednesday, the biggest names are Disney (DIS), Arm Holdings (ARM), AppLovin (APP), Uber (UBER), and Marriott (MAR). For Thursday we expect to hear from household names such as Shell (SHEL), McDonald’s (MCD), Airbnb (ABNB), Monster Beverage (MNST), and Warner Bros. Discovery, among many others. Friday has a handful of big reports expected, and they’re led by Toyota (TM), Sony (SONY), AngloGold Ashanti, and EchoStar (SATS).

Week 2 (May 11-15)

This is where the dates of the reports become a little less certain, as many companies don’t announce the exact date of earnings until two to three weeks ahead of the report. Monday shows Constellation Energy (CEG), Fox Corporation (FOXA), and Circle Internet Group (CRCL) as reports we should expect. Looking out to Tuesday, Sea Limited (SE), Vodafone (VOD), AST Spacemobile (ASTS), and Venture Global (VG) are among the most highly followed companies reporting. Wednesday is highlighted by Cisco Systems (CSCO), Sumitomo Mitsui (SMFG), Takeda Pharmaceuticals (TAK), and Honda Motor Co. (HMC). Thursday features a couple of tech heavyweights with Alibaba (BABA) and Applied Materials (AMAT) expected to report, along with JD.Com (JD) and Copart (CPRT). The only names that jumped out for Friday were Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and RBC Barings (RBC).

Week 3 (May 18-22)

Monday, May 18, has a few reports investors will likely be interested in, starting with Trip.com (TCOM) and Ryanair (RYAAY). EV manufacturer XPeng (XPEV) is also on the docket. We see a shift in the focus on Tuesday as retail names start to step into the earnings confessional. The group is led by Home Depot (HD), Target (TGT), and Urban Outfitters (URBN). We also expect to hear from PDD Holdings (PDD) and Keysight Technologies, among others. Wednesday is arguably the biggest date in the second half of the month, with Nvidia (NVDA) on the docket along with Analog Devices (ADI), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), and Snowflake (SNOW) from the tech sector. In addition to the tech names, retailers are in the spotlight with The TJX Companies (TJX) and Lowe’s (LOW) expected to report.

The retail theme carries over to Thursday with the likes of Walmart (WMT), Ross Stores (ROST), Ralph Lauren (RL), and BJ’s Wholesale (BJ) joining the fray. We also see Deere & Company (DE) and Intuit (INTU) on the calendar. Friday only brings a few reports, with HEICO (HEI), Zoom Communications (ZM), and Williams Sonoma (WSM) being the most prominent.

Week 4 (May 25-29)

US markets will be closed on Monday, May 25, in observance of Memorial Day. For Tuesday we see a few reports scheduled with AutoZone (AZO), Autodesk (ADSK), Agilent (A), Workday (WDAY) and Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) among the biggest. Moving out to Wednesday, we get a few from the tech sector once again, with Salesforce (CRM), Synopsis (SNPS), and Everpure (P) leading the charge.

Thursday brings reports from some pretty big names in terms of market cap. We see Costco (COST), Dell Technologies (DELL), Marvell Technology (MRVL), and NetEase (NTES) among the most notable. Friday’s calendar shows Zscaler (ZS), MongoDB (MDB), and HP Inc. (HPQ) as possibly reporting, but that doesn’t seem likely, and those dates are estimates.

May Investor and Industry Events

May 2 – Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting without Warren Buffett

May 3-6 – Milken Global Conference

May 4 – Fed SLOOS report expected

May 4 – IBM Think event

May 5- American Express annual meeting

May 6 – Anthropic Code with Claude SF event

May 7 – Manheim Used Car Index report

May 7 – Citi Investor Day

May 8-10 – IEEE Conference on AI

May 11-14 – Red Hat Summit

May 12 – WASDE report on major crops

May 13 – BMO Farm to Market Conference

May 14 – Ford annual meeting

May 15 – 13F filings due from hedge funds

May 18-20 – JPMorgan Global Technology, Media, and Communications Conference

May 18-19 – Gamesbeat Summit

May 18-21 – Dell Technologies World

May 19 – Google I/O event

May 20 – Amkor Technology Investor Day

May 20 – B. Riley Securities Investor Conference

May 21 – Stellantis Investor Day

May 21 – Cummins Analyst Day

May 22 – Russell Index changes announced

May 25 – Deutsche Bank European Champions Conference

May 26 – Wells Fargo & Company Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference

May 27 – Meta Platforms annual meeting

May 27-28 – Jefferies Software, Internet, and AI Conference

May 28 – ASCO meetings

May 28 – Salesforce annual meeting

May 29 – MSCI quarterly review

May 30 – Nvidia at the Cisco Live Conference

May 31 – Morgan Stanley Travel & Leisure Conference

May 31-June 4 – Cisco Live event

Major Economic Reports and Events

May 1 – ISM Manufacturing, Construction Spending

May 5 – Trade Balance, ISM Services

May 6 – ADP Employment Change

May 7 – Q1 Productivity, Q1 Unit Labor Costs

May 8 – April Employment Report, Univ. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment

May 11 – Existing Home Sales

May 12 – CPI, Treasury Budget

May 13 – PPI

May 14 – Retail Sales

May 15 – Industrial Production, Capacity Utilization

May 19 – Building Permits, Housing Starts, Pending Home Sales

May 22 – Univ. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment

May 25 – Memorial Day Holiday, US markets closed

May 26 – S&P/Case-Shiller Housing Index, Conference Board Consumer Confidence

May 28 – Durable Orders, PCE Price Index, Personal Income Personal Spending, New Home Sales