Retail investors talked up five hot stocks this week (March 2 to March 6) on X and Reddit's r/WallStreetBets, driven by retail hype, earnings, AI buzz, and corporate news flow.

Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL), Webull Corp. (NASDAQ:BULL), SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK), Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR), Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO), spanning software, semiconductors, investment platforms, storage, cybersecurity, and AI, reflected diverse investor interests.

Oracle

• ORCL was in focus for its challenges with aggressive AI data center expansion and related cost pressures. On March 3, Oracle officially announced that its third-quarter earnings would be released after market close on March 10, with a conference call to follow. More significantly, reports emerged around March 5 that Oracle is planning to cut thousands of jobs across divisions as soon as this month to address a cash crunch from massive AI infrastructure spending, with some reductions targeting roles less needed due to AI advancements and internal reviews of open positions in the cloud unit.

• Some retail investors were questioning ORCL’s massive bets on the AI boom.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $118.86 to $345.72, trading around $154 to $157 per share, as of the publication of this article. It fell 4.19% over the year and 33.51% over the last six months.

• ORCL had a weaker price trend in the short, medium, and long term, with a poor value ranking, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings.

Webull

• BULL was in focus this week after it reported a mixed fourth-quarter earnings report. Quarterly earnings of one cent per share missed the Street estimate of four cents, and revenue clocked in at $165.2 million, which beat the consensus estimate of $160.81 million. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated its Buy rating, arguing that heavy marketing spend weighs on near-term profit while setting up a stronger 2026 for the digital brokerage.​

• Some retail investors were still skeptical of BULL after its mixed earnings report.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $5.47 to $79.56, trading around $5 to $7 per share, as of the publication of this article. It declined by 50.56% over the year and 55.68% in the last six months.

• BULL had a weaker price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a moderate value ranking as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings.

SanDisk

• SNDK was in focus as experts were pointing out that institutional investors are aggressively rotating out of software and into AI hardware, driving massive year-to-date gains for memory and storage leaders while leaving traditional tech sectors behind. Lucas Downey, co-founder of MoneyFlows.com, said that "big money" is deserting software-as-a-service (SaaS) in favor of the physical infrastructure required to power artificial intelligence. However, by the end of the week, the memory makers were getting caught in a sharp tech selloff fueled by escalating Middle East tensions and renewed inflation worries tied to surging oil prices.

• Retail investors were wondering if they should be buying the dip in SNDK.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $27.89 to $725.00, trading around $561 to $566 per share, as of the publication of this article. It advanced 1066.89% over the year and 725.08% in the last six months.

• Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings showed that SNDK had a strong price trend in the short, medium, and long terms.

Palantir Technologies

• At the beginning of the week, PLTR co-founder and Chairman Peter Thiel executed a pre-planned sale of 2 million shares, capitalizing on a significant stock rally driven by an explosion in global demand for the company’s military-grade artificial intelligence. Its flagship military AI platform is reportedly facing disruption after the Pentagon ordered contractors to halt commercial ties with Anthropic. Meanwhile, Rosenblatt reiterated Buy and raised its price target to $200 from $150, implying ~41% upside on March 3.

-Some bearish retail investors were mocking the bullish thesis on PLTR.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $66.12 to $207.52, trading around $150 to $153 per share, as of the publication of this article. It was up 69.39% over the year and down 0.29% over the last six months.

• PLTR maintains a weaker price trend over the short and medium terms but a strong trend in the long term, with a solid growth score, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings.

Broadcom

• AVGO delivered a strong beat and bullish outlook fueled by explosive AI demand. Broadcom reported record revenue of $19.31 billion, with AI semiconductor revenue surging 106% to $8.4 billion, adjusted EPS of $2.05, and a new $10 billion share repurchase authorization through 2026. Guidance for the second-quarter was robust at $22 billion in revenue, including AI chips at $10.7 billion, while CEO Hock Tan stated the company has “line of sight” to AI chip revenue significantly exceeding $100 billion in 2027, emphasizing custom accelerators, networking ramps, and secured supply through 2028.

• A bullish retail investor called AVGO the “easiest buy” of their life, along with Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).

• The stock had a 52-week range of $138.10 to $414.61, trading around $329 to $333 per share, as of the publication of this article. It advanced by 73.70% over the year and down 0.63% over the last six months.

• According to Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, AVGO was maintaining a weak price trend over the short and medium terms but a strong trend in the long term, with a solid quality ranking.

Retail focus blended meme-driven narrative with earnings outlook and corporate news flow, as the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq witnessed negative market action during the week.

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