The second quarter earnings season is here. With a massive rally off the April Liberation Day lows, many stocks are trading at new highs. Which stocks should you have on your watch list this earnings season?
Forget the banks. This earnings season it’s about technology, including AI, cybersecurity and quantum computing, travel and even retail.
It’s difficult to narrow down the “hottest” right now as so many are hot. But these 5 stocks are a good place to start.
Watch These Hot Stocks
These five companies all have hot stock charts, with several breaking out to new all-time highs over the last month. And two are earnings all-stars with perfect, or nearly perfect, earnings surprise track records.
It’s not easy to beat every quarter, or nearly every quarter, for years. It takes a management team skilled at keeping the analysts abreast of developments and navigating things like the Trump tariffs.
Will these stocks get a boost from earnings?
5 Hottest Charts for Q2 Earnings Season
1. Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST)
Costco operates 905 membership warehouses and e-commerce globally. Shares have been hanging out near all-time highs in 2025, but are up just 7.3% on the year.
Costco has a great earnings surprise track record. It has only missed 3 times in the last 5 years. However, Costco’s last miss was just 2 quarters ago, in early 2025. Otherwise, you have to go back to 2022 for the last earnings miss.
Is the Street worried about valuations? Costco is trading with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 55.
Should a retailer like Costco be on your watch list?
2. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW)
Palo Alto Networks is a large cap cybersecurity company. It has a perfect earnings surprise track record. Palo Alto Networks hasn’t missed on earnings in 5 years. That’s impressive.
Shares of Palo Alto Networks are up 10.3% year-to-date and are hovering near 5-year highs.
Should a cybersecurity company like Palo Alto Networks be on your watch list?
3. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
Microsoft is one of the Magnificent 7 stocks and one of the largest technology companies in the world. It has only missed once on earnings in the last 5 years. That’s a great surprise record which makes Microsoft an earnings all-star.
Microsoft’s stock has busted out this year. Shares are up 18.2% year-to-date and are hitting new all-time highs.
Should investors be betting on Microsoft this quarter?
4. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL)
Royal Caribbean has a good earnings surprise record. It hasn’t missed since early 2022. Demand for cruises has remained strong in 2025.
Shares of Royal Caribbean are up 44.2% year-to-date and have broken out to new all-time highs. Yet, the stock is still attractive on a P/E basis. Royal Caribbean trades at 21.7x forward earnings.
Will Royal Caribbean beat again this quarter?
5. D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS)
D-Wave Quantum is coming off a big earnings beat of 60% last quarter. But prior to that quarter, D-Wave Quantum had missed two quarters in a row.
Even though D-Wave Quantum does not yet have positive earnings, shares have been red hot in 2025, gaining 92.4%.
Will the quantum computing stocks like D-Wave Quantum keep their momentum this earnings season?
[In full disclosure, Tracey owns shares of MSFT in her personal portfolio.]
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Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL): Free Stock Analysis Report Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST): Free Stock Analysis Report Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW): Free Stock Analysis Report D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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