Trump-Xi Summit, Costco Earnings and Meta Connect Lead Week's Market Agenda

Costco's quarterly report will draw attention to profit, membership growth and retention trends, CNBC said. The retailer's club membership and bulk-selling model allow it to offer value that is nearly unmatched, and higher inflation favors Costco as shoppers seek the best value. Wall Street is looking for earnings of $6.53 per share on sales of $94.8 billion, according to CNBC. Bank of America analysts have said a special dividend announcement could come in the next few quarters; the last special dividend was paid in January 2024, and the company has historically distributed special dividends every two to three years. The analysts estimated a special dividend could be worth roughly $22 per share.

Meta Connect kicks off Wednesday, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg set to deliver a keynote at 7 p.m. ET, CNBC said. Artificial intelligence is expected to be front and center. CNBC said it expects more details on the company's Muse Spark family of models and, more importantly, how Meta is applying that innovation to product offerings. The recently launched Muse agentic AI application has drawn CNBC's interest, and it is looking for early feedback and future plans. How Meta strengthens its family of apps in user engagement and developer tools is also of interest because that is the primary near-term path to AI investment returns. CNBC said it is also interested in progress on Ray-Ban smart glasses and expects a preview of a new mixed-reality headset, though those are less material in the near term.

Trump is expected to host Xi in Washington on Thursday. Investors will listen for any shift in diplomatic posture or trade concessions. The first priority is an extension of the tariff truce set to expire on Nov. 10; both leaders agreed not to impose or raise certain tariffs. CNBC said it also expects Trump to look for ways to narrow the trade deficit of roughly $91 billion through July. Aircraft purchases from Boeing are a recurring topic in U.S.-China trade discussions. Artificial intelligence is expected to be a hot topic as China looks to close the gap with U.S. companies. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang are among the tech leaders set to attend Trump's state dinner for Xi, CNBC reported.

The meeting comes as the battle over AI regulation is heating up, following a plea by Anthropic's Dario Amodei for a slowdown in frontier model development. CNBC said it supports increased efforts to enhance safety and guardrails as increasingly advanced AI models are trained, but it does not believe a regulator-forced curb on progress is realistic or desirable. Trump and Xi are likely to discuss the war in Iran, which is having a major impact on crude oil supplies for both nations. CNBC noted that prior to the blockade, nearly half of China's crude oil imports came via the Strait of Hormuz. Any discussion of Taiwan, the island nation critical to the global semiconductor supply chain and which China claims sovereignty over, is also important to monitor.

The week's data calendar includes initial jobless claims and new home sales on Thursday, CNBC said. Companies reporting during the week include AutoZone, MillerKnoll, Thor Industries, KB Home, Cintas, Paychex, General Mills, Cracker Barrel, H.B. Fuller, TD SYNNEX and Darden Restaurants. There are no events or data releases scheduled for Monday or Friday.