This Week: Housing starts, Tesla earns, Coca-Cola earns

The Commerce Department reports the number of newly started residential construction projects last month on Tuesday

A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:

EYE ON HOUSING

Economists expect that builders broker ground on new houses and apartments at a faster pace in September.

They predict the Commerce Department will report Tuesday that newly started residential construction projects accelerated to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.47 million last month. That would mark an increase from August, when housing starts slowed after three months of strong gains. Builders have been ramping up construction following a pandemic-induced shutdown in March and April.

Housing starts, monthly, seasonally adjusted annual rate:

April 934,000

May 1,038,000

June 1,265,000

July 1,492,000

Aug. 1,416,000

Sept. (est.) 1,473,000

Source: FactSet

SUPERCHARGED DRIVE

Tesla has been thriving this year even as the pandemic closed factories and scrambled supply lines.

The electric vehicle maker raised Wall Street’s expectations for its third-quarter report card by revealing earlier this month that its sales jumped 44% in the July-September period from a year earlier. The surge in sales has analysts expecting that Tesla will report its fifth consecutive quarter of profit growth Wednesday.

FEELING THIRSTY

Coca-Cola serves up its latest quarterly results Thursday.

Wall Street expects the maker of Coke and Minute Maid orange juice’s earnings and revenue declined in the third quarter from a year earlier. That would echo the company’s results in the previous quarter. Coca-Cola has been struggling with sharp revenue declines during the pandemic, which forced the closure of movie theaters and other venues where it made half of its sales.