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A packed week of shareholder meetings and investor days could set the market’s tone for November Musk’s $1 trillion compensation vote and BofA’s first Investor Day since 2011 headline the action Chip manufacturers Lam Research and KLA get the party going with Annual General Meetings and possible AI commentary It seems like ages ago now, with Mag-7 names posting today and tomorrow, but the big banks clocked in a clean sweep of bottom-line beats two weeks ago. That sets the foundation for what’s turning out to be one of the strongest quarterly reporting periods in years. What’s more, consensus EPS estimates for the next 12 months are closing in on $300 for the first time. The SPX’s ascent to 6800+ yields a P/E ratio just below 23x. In short, both price and profits are in rally mode, which the bulls are happy to see. Meanwhile, volatility across the stock and bond markets has cooled after a mid-October scare that saw the Cboe Volatility Index ( ) spike near 29. It’s back in the mid-teens now, just as the of Treasury volatility sputters close to 47-month lows. The bond market gets its time in the spotlight today, Fed Day, of course. Yields have eased since May, thanks, in part, to gradually softening economic uncertainty. The macro backdrop is not pristine, but stocks seem to be pricing in a Goldilocks scenario. Big tech, big banks, and the man with the biggest net worth are in focus this week, not from an earnings perspective, but from several potentially revealing shareholder events. November 4–5: Lam Research and KLA, Two Semiconductor Bellwethers, Take the Stage Chips are in focus on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. The days may be getting darker (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere), but times have seemingly never been brighter within semiconductors. Both Lam Research (NASDAQ: ) and KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: ) are in the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: ). The fund has more than doubled off its April low, and all eyes will soon be on NVIDIA’s (NASDAQ: ) fiscal Q3 2026 earnings report due out on Wednesday, November 19. Before that, Lam (virtually) hosts its Annual Meeting of Stockholders next Tuesday. There, shareholders could hear about new capital allocation decisions, which is particularly interesting right now given the heavy investment in AI and semiconductor manufacturing. Lam reported its fiscal Q1 numbers a week ago, beating on both the top and bottom lines. Projecting resilient revenue for the year ahead (despite sagging demand out of China) it’s reasonable to expect an upbeat shareholder event. As for KLA, it reports tonight (October 29), after a slew of sell-side upgrades across the semiconductor equipment industry. Shares are higher by almost 100% on the year, and any additional clues on its order backlog or developments in China could move the stock. All the commentary sets the table for NVIDIA’s show later in the month. November 5: Bank of America’s First Investor Day Since 2011 Perhaps the most consequential corporate event hits next Wednesday, when Bank of America (BAC) hosts its first Investor Day in 14 years. The long hiatus makes this gathering particularly noteworthy. The banking industry has undergone massive changes since 2011, from the implementation of Dodd-Frank amid the zero-interest-rate-policy era to the digital banking revolution. Today, with crypto making institutional inroads and Treasury yields dropping from multi-decade highs, there are mixed signals for the big money-center banks. CEO Brian Moynihan will presumably grab the mic and offer details on BofA’s plans to navigate the new era. He usually keeps an upbeat tone, unlike his counterpart at JPMorgan Chase (JPM). Recall that Jamie Dimon talked of cockroaches lurking behind banking walls earlier in October. BofA shareholders may seek fresh clues on the health of the consumer, along with how the housing market may evolve with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipping ever closer to a 5-handle. Furthermore, any added color on deposit trends, delinquency rates, or spending behavior will feed directly into how markets assess the health of the economy heading into 2026. The Financials sector as a whole has been sagging on an absolute and relative basis. The group was leading for much of 2024 and into the first half of this year. An optimistic tone would nicely buttress BofA’s two weeks ago. November 6: Tesla Shareholders Have Their Say If BofA’s Investor Day is the C-SPAN of key corporate events in early November, Tesla’s (NASDAQ: ) shareholder meeting is like Entertainment Tonight. The list of key agenda items will be long, but surely the most anticipated is the vote on Elon Musk’s enormous proposed pay package. The company’s board asks equity holders to approve a performance-based compensation award for the world’s richest person. It also stresses that if the package is not approved, the EV automaker—with its valuation pinned to robotics and AI—risks losing Musk’s “time, energy, and considerable talents.” It’s estimated that if the ambitious milestones are met, the package could net Musk a staggering $1 trillion in equity. That would require a TSLA market cap of a seemingly out-of-reach $8.5 trillion, along with other operational and strategic targets. If it’s not given a thumbs-up, Musk could retaliate or make other threats as the firm’s clear leader. The shareholder meeting transcends Tesla and Musk, though. It could be viewed as a litmus test on corporate governance. It remains to be seen how aligned the board is with Musk, how independent it is, and how shareholder-friendly the incentives are. The Bottom Line Q3 earnings data and corporate commentary will be huge in the next few weeks, but investors should also keep close tabs on developments from virtual and in-person shareholder meetings and Investor/Analyst Days. Facts and figures regarding AI, the global banking environment, and perhaps even the future of corporate governance are financial wildcards in the week ahead.
