Three FTSE 100 Stocks to Watch This Week

London’s blue-chip index enters the new week on solid footing after the FTSE 100 closed at a record-adjacent 10,901.09 on Friday, up 0.3% on the day and for the week, while the FTSE 250 notched a fresh all-time closing high of 24,854.86 and the AIM All-Share surged 4.0%.

Sentiment has been buoyed by softer-than-expected US employment data, which has cooled expectations of further Federal Reserve tightening and lifted risk appetite across UK equities trading near record levels.

With half-year and interim results season in full swing, investors have a packed diary of FTSE 100 earnings to navigate this week. Here are three blue-chips squarely in focus.

1. Aviva (LSE: AV.) — reports Friday 14 August

Insurance giant Aviva rounds out the week with half-year results on Friday, and the stock — trading around 712.6p, up 0.3% on the day, with a market capitalisation of roughly £21.3bn — heads into the print with genuine momentum but a mixed underlying backdrop.

According to Hargreaves Lansdown senior equity analyst Matt Britzman, Aviva’s Wealth division led growth in the first quarter, supported by Workplace and Platform inflows, while Canadian general insurance profitability improved sharply.

UK personal lines have held stable, but commercial insurance is showing signs of softening, and claims inflation remains a live risk. “Investors should therefore focus on pricing discipline and underwriting margins rather than premium growth alone,” Britzman said.

The other swing factor is the integration of Direct Line, which Aviva acquired in a landmark deal. Early progress has reportedly been encouraging, with management moving quickly to reprice, expand distribution through comparison sites, and extract capital benefits.

Investors will be watching the solvency ratio closely — a recovery here matters for the flexibility to sustain dividends and buybacks, neither of which is guaranteed. Aviva currently trades on a trailing P/E near 26x, with a forward P/E closer to 14x and a dividend yield of about 5.5%, underlining the market’s expectation of an earnings recovery.

2. InterContinental Hotels Group (LSE: IHG) — reports Tuesday 11 August

Hotels group IHG kicks off the week’s action with half-year results on Tuesday. Shares closed at $158.00 on Friday, down 0.5% on the day, valuing the FTSE 100 hospitality giant at roughly $23.3bn.

IHG — owner of brands including InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Six Senses — goes into the update with consensus earnings estimates pointing to continued growth: analysts pencil in EPS of around $5.70 for the current financial year, rising to $6.45 next year, against trailing earnings of $4.87.

The stock carries a forward P/E of roughly 26x. Investors will be watching RevPAR (revenue per available room) trends across IHG’s key US and international markets, the pace of net rooms growth in its asset-light franchise model, and management commentary on consumer travel demand given the mixed signals coming from peers such as TUI, which flagged a 7% year-on-year drop in summer bookings ahead of its own results this week.

Any read-through on US corporate and leisure travel resilience will be closely parsed.

3. Entain (LSE: ENT) — reports Thursday 13 August

Sports betting and gaming group Entain — owner of Ladbrokes, Coral, bwin and a stake in BetMGM — reports half-year results on Thursday. Shares closed at 545p on Friday, up nearly 1.5% on the day, giving the group a market capitalisation of approximately £3.5bn.

Entain has been in recovery mode after a volatile few years marked by regulatory headwinds and cost pressure, and the market is pricing in a rebound: consensus estimates put EPS at around 60p for the current year, climbing to 69p next year, translating into a forward P/E of under 10x — a notable discount to the wider gambling and leisure sector. The stock also carries a dividend yield of roughly 3.65%.

Key areas for investors to watch include underlying EBITDA progression, the performance and cash generation trajectory of the BetMGM US joint venture, net gaming revenue trends in the UK&I and international online segments, and any update on regulatory costs following the UK Gambling Act white paper reforms. With shares still well below prior highs, a clean set of numbers and reassurance on the balance sheet could be a catalyst for a re-rating.

The Wider Picture

Beyond this trio, the week’s UK corporate calendar is busy: Spirax Group, International Workplace Group and Genuit report Tuesday; Balfour Beatty follows on Wednesday; and Antofagasta, Rank Group and Savills round out Thursday’s slate alongside Entain.

With UK equities trading close to record highs and bond yields elevated, how these results are received — particularly on margins, cash generation and forward guidance — could set the tone for the FTSE 100’s next leg, one way or the other.