• Fed meeting, FOMC dot-plot, Powell news conference will be in focus this week.
• Nvidia’s GTC conference presents a promising opportunity for the company to showcase its cutting-edge technology and growth prospects, making it a stock to consider buying.
• Nike’s anticipated earnings report, along with its ongoing challenges, might make it a stock to sell.
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U.S. stocks rallied on Friday, rebounding from steep losses seen over the week, as President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war fueled recession fears and battered risk sentiment.
Even with Friday’s bounce, the and the notched their fourth straight weekly losses. The S&P 500 slumped 2.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 2.4%. The fell 3.1% for its worst week in two years. 
Source: Investing.com
The blockbuster week ahead is expected to be an eventful one filled with several market-moving events, including the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting.
The U.S. central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell could offer hints about when rate cuts might start when he speaks in the post-meeting press conference.
Along with its policy update, the Fed will release new dot-plot quarterly projections for interest rates, unemployment and inflation. Markets currently expect the Fed to wait until June to cut rates again, as per the Investing.com .
Source: Investing.com
Meanwhile, on the economic calendar, most important will be Monday’s U.S. retail sales report, which will shed further light on the health of the economy.
Elsewhere, on the earnings docket, there are just a handful of corporate results due, including Nike (NYSE:), FedEx (NYSE:), Micron Technology (NASDAQ:), Lennar (NYSE:), General Mills (NYSE:), and Carnival (NYSE:) as Wall Street’s reporting season draws to a close. In addition, a handful of China-based stocks are also on the agenda, including PDD Holdings (NASDAQ:), Tencent (OTC:), XPeng (NYSE:), and Nio (NYSE:).
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, March 17 – Friday, March 21.
Stock to Buy: Nvidia
Nvidia (NASDAQ:) is set to host its highly anticipated GPU Technology Conference (GTC), at which it is likely to show off its latest advancements in generative AI, accelerated computing, large language models, robotics, and more.
Nvidia’s GTC conference has historically been a positive catalyst for the company’s stock performance, with shares outpacing the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index in the week around GTC over the past five years.
The four-day event, touted as “the world’s premier AI conference,” will kick off Monday from the San Jose Convention Center, in California and feature over 1,000 sessions, 2,000 speakers and nearly 400 exhibitors. The company expects 25,000 in-person attendees, with 300,000 attending virtually.
Most of the spotlight will fall on CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote speech on Tuesday at 1:00PM EST. According to the description, Huang will share how Nvidia’s accelerated computing platform is driving the next wave in AI, digital twins, cloud technologies, and sustainable computing.
Analysts anticipate that Nvidia will unveil its GB300 AI chip, which could start shipping in May. Furthermore, other key members of Nvidia’s leadership team are expected to reveal fresh details on the anticipated launch of the next-gen GPU, Rubin, in 2026.
This year, the conference also includes a dedicated ‘Quantum Day’ on Thursday, with the potential unveiling of new quantum computing developments on the agenda.
Source: Investing.com
NVDA stock ended Friday’s session at $121.67, earning the Santa Clara, California-based AI giant a market cap of $2.97 trillion. Shares are down 9.4% since the start of the year amid growing skepticism over whether the AI boom can justify sky-high valuations.
Despite the recent downturn, the consensus among analysts is overwhelmingly bullish, with most maintaining Buy or Overweight ratings. Analysts see 41.8% upside potential with a mean target of $172.50.
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Stock to Sell: Nike
On the flip side, Nike is preparing to release its earnings report for the February-ended fiscal third quarter at 4:15PM ET on Thursday. Despite the arrival of a new CEO, Elliot Hill, in October, aimed at spearheading a turnaround, things haven’t looked up for the sportswear giant.
Market participants expect a sizable swing in NKE shares following the print, with the options market pointing to a possible implied move of 9% in either direction. Analyst sentiment is overwhelmingly bearish with 23 downward revisions and no upward adjustments in the weeks preceding the report.
Source: InvestingPro
Nike is expected to post an annual decline of 39% in adjusted earnings per share to $0.30, with revenue projected to decrease by 11% from the year-ago period to $11 billion.
Looking ahead, it is my belief that Nike executives will disappoint investors in their full-year guidance and strike a cautious tone due to falling sales in North America as well as weak demand in China.
Nike is a proven brand undergoing a necessary but painful transition. The athletic apparel and footwear has been grappling with weak revenue for several quarters, bloated inventories, and increased competition from brands like On Holding (NYSE:) and Deckers’ (NYSE:) Hoka.
Hill is implementing a strategic reset, focusing on sports innovation rather than lifestyle products, but this transition will take time.
Source: Investing.com
NKE stock – which fell to a 2025 low of $70.81 on Feb. 7 – closed at $71.66 on Friday. At its current valuation, the Beaverton, Oregon-based company has a market cap of $106 billion. Shares are down by 5.3% year-to-date.
It should be noted that Nike currently has a “FAIR” overall financial health rating with a score of 2.5 out of 5.0 due to ongoing concerns about spotty sales growth and weakening gross profit margins.
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Disclosure: At the time of writing, I am long on the S&P 500, and the via the SPDR® S&P 500 ETF (SPY (NYSE:)), and the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ). I am also long on the Invesco Top QQQ ETF (QBIG), Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP), and VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH).
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.
