The stock market is doing well this month, with the S&P 500 Index soaring to a record high, helped by the strong earnings and the falling odds that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates later this year. This article looks at the top stocks to watch next week, including Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG), Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK).
Berkshire Hathaway in the Spotlight After Earnings
Berkshire Hathaway has been in a strong uptrend in the past few months. Its Class A shares jumped from the year-to-date low of $697,960 in May to $780,085, with its valuation hitting $1.12 trillion.
Berkshire Hathaway will be in the spotlight after publishing its financial results on Saturday. Its results showed that its earnings grew in the second quarter as Greg Abel, the CEO, started deploying its cash. He announced a $4.5 billion share buyback, with its cash pile falling to $365 billion from a record of $397 billion in the last quarter.
Its operating earnings jumped to $12.98 billion, with its manufacturing, service, and retail earnings jumping by 24% to $4.47 billion. Berkshire Hathaway Energy made $891 million, while BNSF grew by 6% to $1.56 billion. Its insurance business slowed by 13% to $1.73 billion.
Plug Power to Publish Earnings as its Stock Remains in a Bear Market
Plug Power is another top stock to watch as the hydrogen company publishes its financial results, which come at a time when it is in a deep bear market. It has slumped by nearly 50% from its highest point this year.
The upcoming earnings will provide more information on whether its growth and turnaround continued in the last quarter. Benzinga data shows that analysts predict that its revenue dropped by 2.7% to $169 million, with its loss per share moving from 18 cents last year to 8 cents.
PLUG stock tends to be highly volatile after earnings. For example, it jumped by 13% in the last report, and by over 20% in its earnings release in March. As such, the key support and resistance levels to watch will be $1.94 and $2.41.
Applied Materials to Shed Light on AI Boom
Applied Materials stock has retreated sharply in the past few months, moving from a high of $740 to the current $540. This performance will be put to the test as it releases its earnings, which will provide more hints on the AI boom.
The last earnings report showed that its revenue jumped by 11% to $7.91 billion, with its gross margin hitting 49.9%. It made $845 million in cash from operations and distributed $795 million of it through dividends and buybacks.
The upcoming earnings are expected to show that the revenues jumped by 23% in the last quarter to $9.01 billion. Its guidance for the current quarter will be about 40% to $9.5 billion.
Analysts have a bullish outlook for the company, with Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and Stifel expecting it to jump to $650 and above.
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