Next week on the stock market

Back in January, Fevertree lifted the lid on its strategic partnership with global beverage company Molson Coors. In return for handing over a stake in its business, Fevertree’s getting access to Coors’ broad production, distribution and marketing resources. It’s hoped that this will help drive the next leg of growth across the pond, which has already become the tonic-maker’s largest market.

While 2024 profits are set to rebound sharply when full-year results are announced next week, investors will be most focused on the guidance for 2025 and beyond. We’re positive about the partnership's long-term prospects, but near-term profit expectations are weak as marketing spending ramps up and operational creases will likely need to be ironed out. There’s a lot of work to be done and some disappointments along the way can’t be ruled out.

Vistry is set to announce its full-year results next week after a challenging 2024. The final quarter of the year saw several profit downgrades due to a series of managerial missteps and accounting issues, impacting overall investor confidence.

Despite completing 7% more homes in 2024, Vistry’s underlying pre-tax profit is expected to fall by 40% to £250mn. This drop is mainly due to delayed partner agreements, abandoned projects, and slower open market completions.

Looking ahead, Vistry’s emphasis on affordable housing aligns well with government objectives to address the country’s housing shortage. Although this year’s demand is expected to be at a similar level to 2024, market forecasts are expecting pre-tax profits to rebound around 19% to £308mn. But mortgage affordability remains a struggle for buyers and rising national insurance and build-cost inflation remain challenges to be wary of.

Next is gearing up to release its full-year results next week, with investors eagerly anticipating another strong performance. Thanks to robust Christmas trading, the company has already raised its pre-tax profit guidance to £1.01bn.

Key areas to watch include Next’s online channel performance, which was offsetting declines in brick-and-mortar stores at the last count. We expect to hear positive progress on its overseas expansion, and we’re keen to know how the brand’s looking to offset rising labour costs, with a £67mn increase expected due to UK budget changes.

Despite a slight improvement in February, UK consumer confidence remains fragile, so Next will have to balance price increases carefully. Next expects pre-tax profits to rise again in 2025 to £1.05bn, but given its track record of guidance upgrades, we wouldn’t rule out that figure getting nudged higher next week.

A director of Hargreaves Lansdown plc is a Non-Executive Director of Next plc.