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These 3 Stocks Have Soared in 2026—Can They Keep Climbing?

Written by Nathan Reiff

Heading into August 2026, the S&P 500 seems to be experiencing a sluggish summer, although the market remains up about 8% year to date (YTD). This is despite a protracted sell-off in the AI industry that has rattled some of the biggest gainers this year. However, there are still opportunities for momentum plays for investors willing to dig a bit deeper.

Stocks with rallies of 70% YTD or better are still available, but investors will want to know whether that momentum is likely to continue as they look ahead to the final quarter of the year.

Three stocks have delivered outsized gains in 2026, but the durability of their rallies depends on very different catalysts, fundamentals, and risk profiles: ArcBest Corp. (NASDAQ: ARCB), Kulicke & Soffa Industries (NASDAQ: KLIC), and Cohu Inc. (NASDAQ: COHU). For investors, the key question is which companies have enough earnings momentum to support further upside—and which rallies may be running ahead of the underlying businesses.

ArcBest: Rally Hinges on a Freight Recovery and Shipment Growth

ArcBest is a freight logistics and supply chain solutions company that has thrived as optimism about the transportation industry has been slowly growing.

Trucking has been plagued by excess capacity, weak demand, inflation, tariff impacts, and more. But ArcBest has remained even while weaker competitors have pivoted away.

With investors anticipating its Q2 2026 earnings report on July 29, the market will be watching to see if ArcBest can maintain or build on its daily shipments.

Asset-based operations experienced 2% year over year (YOY) growth in the first quarter of the year, while asset-light stood out for 10% YOY growth to shipments per day.

The company is also investing in technology to improve efficiency and the customer experience. Its AI-enabled City Route Optimization program delivered $15 million in savings in 2025, while ArcBest View brings quoting, booking, shipment visibility, and reporting into one customer platform.

Management has signaled optimism for the remainder of the year, including projections for opportunistic stock buybacks, even as revenue grew by a relatively small 3% YOY for the first quarter. Accelerating top-line growth will be key for ArcBest if it is to maintain its share price momentum.

Shares of ARCB are up a massive 100% YTD, but analysts think there is still some room for modest growth to come. The company has a Moderate Buy rating overall based on nine Buys and six Holds.

Kulicke & Soffa: AI Packaging Growth Faces a Cyclical Test

With a market capitalization under $5 billion, Kulicke & Soffa tends to go overlooked by investors compared to its larger rivals in the semiconductor and LED assembly space.

Still, the company has thrived this year, with shares rising by around 98% YTD despite the AI industry declinethat has impacted many semiconductor makers.

This firm stands out for its niche thermo-compression bonding business, which provides advanced packaging technologies that are critical for certain AI systems, high-performance computing, and memory products.

Kulicke & Soffa has seen material improvement in demand and sales thanks to this part of its business, as well as its fluxless thermal compression area.

Management expects fiscal 2026 thermo-compression bonding revenue to exceed $100 million and is expanding Advanced Solutions production capacity to support roughly $400 million in annual revenue.

Overall, revenue is growing rapidly for Kulicke & Soffa, having climbed by nearly 50% YOY in the latest quarter. Management expects solid improvement to continue, though investors should, of course, be cautious given the cyclical nature of semiconductor equipment and, in particular, the recent volatility in the space. This may be why some analysts are cautious, giving KLIC shares a consensus Hold rating.

Cohu: AI Testing Expansion Could Offset Near-Term Margin Pressure

Cohu is another semiconductor play, though with a very different focus: it provides test and inspection solutions, potentially insulating it from some of the AI industry’s shocks this year.

This may be one reason why COHU shares have done well, rising by about 82% YTD. This could expand as the company broadens its reach into AI processor testing, new types of memory inspection, and more.

Orders have grown substantially in the first part of the year, rising 57% YOY in Q1 2026 and helping to boost revenue by 29% over the same period.

Management expects revenue growth for the full year to be in the range of 20% to 25%, signaling strong improvements to recurring, high-margin sales like software subscriptions.

At the same time, rising operating expenses as Cohu scales and increased supply chain costs will likely continue to put some pressure on the company’s gross margins in the near term.

Regardless, Wall Street sees the company continuing to thrive: analysts expect nearly 50% in upside potentialand favor the stock with seven Buy ratings compared to just one Hold and one Sell. READ THIS STORY ONLINE

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Hasbro’s Earnings Beat Shows Why This Is No Longer Just a Toy Story

Written by Chris Markoch

Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is up about 4.6% in the days after the company reported its Q2 2026 earnings report on July 21. The company, known for iconic toys and games like Monopoly and Play-Doh, delivered a top- and bottom-line beat and raised its second-half guidance. More importantly to investors, the company continued to pay down its debt and raised its guidance across the board.

Hasbro’s Q2 revenue rose 16% year over year to $1.14 billion. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.28, roughly flat versus last year but still ahead of expectations. Given the size of the beat, the muted investor reaction stands out. That gap between fundamentals and price action may be where the opportunity lies.

Wizards of the Coast Drives Record Growth

The Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment grew revenue 27%, with Magic: The Gathering crossing $500 million in quarterly revenue for the first time ever. Secrets of Strixhaven and the record-breaking Marvel Super Heroes crossover drove the surge. Segment operating profit rose 12% to $270 million, even after absorbing a $56 million digital games impairment.

Consumer Products Show Surprising Resilience

Consumer Products revenue grew 5%, helped by Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu and momentum in GEM Squared categories. That growth came despite lingering disruption from the unauthorized network access disclosed earlier this year. Operating results there remained a loss, but the adjusted loss narrowed versus a year ago. Entertainment revenue fell 20% on deal timing, a smaller and less important piece of the story.

Raised Guidance Signals Stronger 2026 Outlook

Management didn’t just beat the quarter. It also raised its full-year guidance. Revenue growth is now expected at 5% to 7% in constant currency, up from 3% to 5%. Adjusted operating margin guidance moved up to 25%-26%, and adjusted EBITDA guidance rose to $1.45 billion to $1.50 billion. Operating cash flow nearly tripled year over year, hitting $604 million. Hasbro used that cash to pay down debt and lean into its $1 billion buyback authorization.

Despite the guidance raise and record Magic revenue, HAS trades at approximately 14.7x forward earnings. Analysts covering the stock point to earnings growth and free cash flow growth projections that suggest real undervaluation at that multiple. When a company is compounding double-digit revenue growth and expanding margins, a mid-teens multiple looks conservative.

That valuation gap often shows up when a stock’s narrative hasn’t caught up with its numbers. Investors may still see Hasbro as a legacy toy company, weathering tariffs and a cyber incident. The underlying business tells a different story.

The “Kidult” Trend Is Fueling Long-Term Growth

Here’s what some investors may be missing about Hasbro. The company’s most important customer today isn’t a kid. It’s an adult collector. Wizards of the Coast, powered almost entirely by Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, now drives the bulk of the company’s profit. The average tabletop Magic player is around 35 years old, with a player tenure of over 5 years.

That’s the “kidults” trend in action: adults with disposable income sustaining a hobby they never outgrew. Magic has posted growth in 15 of the last 17 years, with a 17% revenue CAGR since 2009. This isn’t a fad. It’s a durable, adult-driven demand engine inside a company that’s still branded around children’s toys.

That mismatch between public perception and financial reality is a classic behavioral setup. The market prices Hasbro like a toy company. The earnings increasingly come from a trading card and tabletop gaming business with cult-like adult loyalty. As that reality becomes harder to ignore, the multiple may need to catch up.

Technical Breakout Points to More Upside

HAS shares have decisively cleared their 200-day moving average near $87.07. The MACD confirms the strength, with the MACD line at 1.67 above its signal line at 1.85 and a rising histogram. That’s a bullish setup building momentum. Shares are still well off their February high above $105, leaving plenty of room to run if buyers keep defending the 200-day line, and this breakout holds.

Analysts See More Than 20% Upside for HAS

As of this writing, the stock has a consensus price target of $109.07. That’s a gain of approximately 15% from its market close price on July 27. However, after the earnings report, UBS Group reiterated its Buy rating on the stock with a $120 price target.

Hasbro is checking all the boxes for investors. It’s successfully shoring up its balance sheet while returning cash to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. It also has analysts’ support and is heading into the two quarters that are historically its strongest for revenue. READ THIS STORY ONLINE

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Rambus: Another AI Phoenix Ready to Rise From the Ashes of Correction

Written by Thomas Hughes

Rambus’ (NASDAQ: RMBS) stock price correction is a thing of beauty to those focused on the long-term impact of AI on its business. While near-term headwinds, including market angst and summer trading conditions, impair the price action, the long-term story continues to strengthen.

The AI buildout is well underway, and it hinges on the kind of bottleneck-reducing technology Rambus supplies. Once a legacy provider, Rambus has repositioned itself around AI-critical memory interface hardware and IP. They enable quick, reliable, safe data transmission suitable for the most advanced AI workloads. The summer price pullback has decoupled from Rambus’ reality and created an attractive entry point in this market.

Rambus’ Market Is in the Midst of a Secular Pivot, Higher Prices Are Coming

Rambus’ shift in position is evident in its stock price action. While near-term headwinds are reflected in the daily and weekly action, the monthly chart shows a secular-grade pivot underway. Price action, long hindered by post-DotCom headwinds, broke to fresh all-time highs alongside other emerging AI-critical names in early 2026 and is on track to double its price relative to late-July trading levels. Breaking out of the trading range brings price targets equal to the range magnitude into play, a move worth approximately $110 from the $115 break-out point.

Signals for investors to note include the steadily increasing volume and MACD convergence. They point to strong and strengthening market momentum, suggesting price action will at least retest the existing highs if not move to new highs. These signals align with market sentiment indicators such as analyst trends and institutional activity, which both lead the action with their revisions and limit downside risk.

Rambus’ Q2 results are unlikely to alter the analyst trends, only strengthen them. As it stands, MarketBeat tracks 11 analysts with current ratings. Coverage is increasing, sentiment is firming, there is a 63% Buy-side bias within the data, and the price targets are rising. Consensus forecasts a move to $135 by year’s end, sufficient to exceed the DotCom highs, but the trend matters: the high-end is pegged at $172, just shy of record stock price levels and likely to be increased as the quarters progress.

Rambus Sits Securely Behind a Deepening Moat

The company has a significant moat from its IP and product technology, with customers locked into multiyear contracts and product cycles that are expensive and difficult to break. Recent news includes new contracts with hyperscale clients that extend the growth runway while improving the profitability outlook. This year’s catalysts include production ramps, accelerating product launches, and the massive scaling of AI infrastructure.

What the market gets wrong about Rambus is that it isn’t just critical to AI training, but to AI inference as well. Management has noted the real opportunity is inference, where massive, high-bandwidth memory dumps from numerous sources are required—the exact bottleneck Rambus products address.

Rambus Retreats After Beat and Raise Quarter

Rambus’s post-release stock price pullback reveals the market was expecting strength. The critical details are that revenue grew by 20.4% to $207.39 million in Q2, exceeding company guidance and consensus forecasts, driven by product and IP sales. Product sales, the catalyst in 2026, grew by 13% sequentially and 22% compared to last year and now account for more than 50% of the business. Sales are driven by demand and new product lines focused on the datacenter, AI, and hyperscale markets.

Margins compressed during the quarter, but the bad news is offset by good. Compression is linked to product mix and R&D, which are ultimately good for business, and was less than expected. The company produced $61.2 million in cash from operations and 77 cents in adjusted earnings per share, 5 cents better than expected, with growth forecasted for Q3. Q3 guidance calls for another sequential increase in revenue and earnings and is likely to be cautious, given Q2’s strength and outperformance.

Rambus’ biggest risk this year is supply chain bottlenecks that threaten to curb its ability to convert product demand into revenue. Bottlenecks are already causing extended lead times and may worsen as the year progresses. To address this, Rambus is focusing on inventory so it’s ready to fill orders as they come in, as well as quality control. Tight quality control ensures higher throughput and lower overall costs and is accretive to the top and bottom lines. Additionally, Rambus is expanding its manufacturing partnerships to strengthen its fabless position, while memory makers such as Micron (NASDAQ: MU) are also investing in capacity. READ THIS STORY ONLINE

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