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Brands seize on NBA All-Star Game and Valentine’s Day: The Week Ahead

Brands seize on NBA All-Star Game and Valentine’s Day: The Week Ahead

Feb. 15

Restaurant Brands International reports its fourth-quarter and full-year results. This will be the company’s first financial update since announcing plans to acquire the Firehouse Subs chain in December. Analysts will seek answers for slow-growing sales at Burger King and on international expansion for its fast-growing sibling chain, Popeyes Louisiana Chicken. 

Feb. 16

Kraft Heinz Co., which outperformed expectations in its fiscal third quarter, reports results for its fourth quarter and full year. Officials expect flat sales for the year vs. a robust 2020 but improving quarterly profits as it manages cost increases.

The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement begins its virtual 11th annual Converged TV Measurement and Data Conference. It comes at a time of unprecedented flux in TV measurement, with industry heavyweight Nielsen having lost Media Rating Council accreditation and a host of networks offering trials of alternative currencies for writing TV deals. Ad Age Editor Jeanine Poggi interviews Krishan Bhatia, president and chief business officer, global advertising and partnerships of NBCUniversal, in an opening keynote fireside chat.

Roblox, the gaming platform that has come to characterize the growing interest in the metaverse, announces fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 15 and hosts a conference call today at 8:30 a.m. ET. Investors will see how the gaming world with almost 50 million active users is shaping up, and hear about how brands have been developing there.

Feb. 17

Coming off a fourth quarter in which it exceeded analyst expectations for sales and earnings, Hormel Foods will review its financial results for the fiscal first quarter. The maker of Spam, Planters and Skippy saw sales gains in all of its four divisions (refrigerated foods, grocery, Jennie-O turkey and international) in the fourth quarter.

Walmart announces fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, showing whether the country’s biggest retailer continued momentum from earlier in the year. Announced departures of the U.S. unit’s chief merchandising officer and chief customer officer in January might lead to some trepidation, but Walmart has been on a roll for a while.

Roku releases fourth-quarter results today with an earnings call at 5 p.m. ET. Industry watchers will get to see how the streaming company closed out last year in the holiday period, and how the connected TV advertising business is performing.

Feb. 18

The action-adventure video game series “Uncharted” gets brought to life in the form of a movie of the same name, starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, that lands in U.S. theaters today. The New York Times reported that Sony Pictures spent $120 million to make it, with high hopes that the 40 million fans who have bought “Uncharted” games (published by Sony Interactive) for PlayStation over the years will turn it into a big-screen blockbuster.

Feb. 19-20

The closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics airs and streams live Sunday at 7 a.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com, with a primetime re-airing on NBC at 8 p.m. ET.

The NBA All-Star Game heads to Cleveland on Sunday. TNT coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET. State Farm has the lead sponsorship on the All-Star Saturday night activity, which includes the Taco Bell Skills ChallengeMTN Dew 3-Point Contest and AT&T Slam Dunk.