Top US Stocks to Watch: Earnings, CPI, and Rotation (Jan 12–16)

What’s happening:
Q4 earnings are starting just as the December CPI is released, so markets have to consider both company performance and interest rates together.

Why it matters:
Earnings indicate which companies should receive investment, while inflation determines how much that investment costs.

What the market is missing:
The market is no longer led only by big tech companies. Leadership is spreading out, but it’s happening quietly.

Key risk to watch:
If inflation stays high and pushes yields up, it could challenge current stock valuations.

Investor lens:
This is a week to watch. Earnings and market shifts will give us information before they create new opportunities.

Markets are off to a solid start in 2026, but the mood has shifted. What matters most now is not just the S&P 500’s level, but how many stocks are joining the rally.

More stocks are getting involved. Money is moving among different types of stocks rather than leaving the market. Financials, industrials, and some tech companies are drawing interest, even though overall fund flows are uneven. Active managers are still investing, but they’re being careful. There’s risk, but not excitement.

This creates a straightforward setup for the week.

Earnings reports show what companies really made. The CPI shows how much those earnings are worth after considering interest rates. Market rotation reveals which sectors investors trust when things settle down.

There’s not much data at the start of the week, but Treasury auctions and comments from central banks could still affect interest rates a little.

December CPI is the macro event of the week. It arrives just as JPMorgan Chase opens earnings season for the banks. The numbers matter, but the language around credit, margins, and demand matters more. $JPM ( ▼ 0.24% )

PPI and retail sales fill in the picture. Citigroup and BlackRock report, offering insight into both credit conditions and investor behaviour. $C ( ▼ 0.62% ) $BLK ( ▼ 1.01% )

Jobless claims test the labour narrative. More importantly, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company reports. When the foundry speaks, the AI supply chain listens. $TSM ( ▼ 0.52% )

Industrial production at the end of the week will show if the idea of a broadening economy holds up.

At the same time, the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference often causes big price swings in major healthcare and biotech stocks.

Banks always influence the market’s direction. It’s not because they’re flashy, but because they affect so many areas. Things like net interest income, credit quality, deals, and guidance all shape how investors view growth in 2026.

Names in focus include JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, with BlackRock acting as a proxy for risk appetite.

If banks describe the economy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company describes the future. Its guidance ripples through chip designers and equipment suppliers alike.

US-listed names most sensitive to that message include NVIDIA, Broadcom, AMD, Applied Materials, and Lam Research.

As more stocks join the rally, investors are paying more attention to companies connected to real-world spending and long-term contracts. Defence and industrial infrastructure companies fit this trend.

Watch Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, L3Harris, and General Dynamics, alongside industrial beneficiaries such as Caterpillar and Eaton.

Healthcare conferences often move stock prices based on headlines before any actual numbers come out. Topics like obesity treatments, insurance payments, and merger talk are getting the most attention.

Large, liquid names to track include Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, UnitedHealth Group, Abbott Laboratories, and Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Retail sales and early travel earnings prompt investors to ask a key question: How strong is consumer spending after accounting for prices and interest rates?

Focus names include Walmart, Costco, Amazon, Delta Air Lines, and JB Hunt.

Even though headlines suggest big changes in fund flows, institutions aren’t leaving stocks. They’re just shifting their investments around.

Money has shifted toward industrials, financials, and some cyclical stocks, while still staying in core tech. Investors are still very active. The focus isn’t on fear, but on being selective.

One way to look at this is like a barbell strategy. On one side are immediate events like bank earnings and TSM results. On the other hand are stocks that benefit if the market keeps broadening.

If the CPI shows disinflation, it could lower pressure on yields as earnings come in. If banks are confident about credit, it would support the idea of a soft landing. Positive comments from TSM about AI demand could quickly boost sentiment for semiconductor stocks.

On the downside, if inflation stays high, it could end the recent calm in interest rates. If banks give cautious guidance, it could slow momentum in cyclical stocks. A new wave of risk aversion would show how much recent gains rely on investor confidence.

Four signals do the heavy lifting:

This week is more about paying attention than making predictions. Markets usually show what matters to them before they make their next move.