3 AI stocks to buy before August 2026 (From The Oxford Club)

As the second week of earnings season draws to a close, companies across several sectors are providing clues about what investors can expect for the remainder of the year. Of course, quarterly earnings and revenues are rear-facing metrics. But when combined with recent financial performances and full-year guidance, notable trends begin to emerge.

Four companies—ranging from defense contractors to homebuilders to big banks—that reported earnings on Tuesday, July 21, are providing a glimpse into what the market may hold in the second half of 2026.

Northrop Grumman’s Record Backlog Reinforces the Defense Spending Story

The energy sector hasn’t been the only beneficiary of the war with Iran.

The ongoing war with Iran has also kept defense spending in focus, and the administration’s 2027 budget request proposes $1.5 trillion in total defense resources, although Congress has not enacted that amount.

Northrop Grumman's (NYSE: NOC) Q2 earnings double beat offered further evidence of strong global demand for defense systems. Earnings per share (EPS) of $7.68 topped the analyst consensus of $6.82, while quarterly revenue of $10.88 billion—a 5.1% year-over-year (YOY) increase—surpassed expectations of $10.8 billion.

But the biggest takeaway was that, with no end in sight for the war in Iran, Q2 serves as a precursor to what is likely to be a protracted global conflict. Northrop announced that it received net awards totaling $20 billion during the quarter, pushing its backlog to a record $104.7 billion.

As a result, the company raised its 2026 sales guidance to $43.75 billion to $44.25 billion, with full-year adjusted EPS guidance of $28.60 to $29.10.

Defense contractors have been pivotal in industrials’ outperformance this year. The sector ranks third with a year-to-date (YTD) gain of 15.18%, trailing only tech at 25.57% and energy at 30.84%. With institutional buying nearly doubling selling over the past 12 months, and a short interest of just 1.66% of the float, Northrop should continue to reward shareholders for the remainder of the year.

D.R. Horton Treads Water as Housing Stagnates, Cancellations Rise

With real estate stuck in limbo, homebuilder stocks have chopped around this year.

D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) is the perfect example. Shares were up approximately 3.7% year to date (YTD) ahead of its fiscal Q3 earnings release.

But now, the stock currently finds itself in one of those downtrends,

After enduring six double-digit peaks or troughs, DHI is down a little over 3% YTD, and down nearly 15% from its three-month high. Much of that can be attributed to a stagnant—if not cooling—housing market. 

According to the latest House Market Index (HMI) survey, homebuilders cut prices by 37% in July, 35% in June, and 32% in May. That’s a bearish trend for housing, and the largest companies may be hanging their hopes on a potential interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve later this year.

For D.R. Horton, that showed up in the company’s latest earnings report. EPS of $3.20 beat analyst expectations of $3.02. And while revenue of $9.23 billion beat expectations of $9.1 billion, the figure was essentially flat YOY—a concerning indicator for the housing market.

Management noted that affordability constraints and cautious consumer sentiment continue to weigh on demand, with orders flat YOY and the company’s cancellation rate rising to 20% from 17% a year ago.

D.R. Horton cut its full-year delivery outlook after demand softened later in the quarter, and now expects Q4 starts to be lower than Q3 while keeping gross margin roughly flat sequentially. That leaves investors with a mixed picture: The builder is still beating near-term expectations, but demand, pricing incentives, and margins remain under pressure.

Capital One and Schwab Point to Improving Financial Momentum

This year, the financials have performed third-worst among the S&P 500’s 11 sectors. But a string of earnings beats from major banks has improved the sector’s near-term momentum. The sector appears to have turned a corner, posting the third-best performance with a 7.28% gain.

Capital One (NYSE: COF) and Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW) both posted a double beat in their Q2 earnings reports.

Last year, Capital One doubled down on its efforts to challenge the duopoly of Visa (NYSE: V) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA) by expanding its in-house payment rails.

Capital One completed its acquisition of Discover in May 2025, and Discover says card accounts will migrate to Capital One throughout 2026 and early 2027, with a major wave scheduled to begin July 27, 2026.

On the earnings conference call, CEO Richard Fairbank said that 50% of Discover’s new-account originations were already on Capital One’s technology platform and that the company expected all new Discover originations to be on its technology stack by the end of Q3.

The bank handily beat on earnings with EPS of $5.81 against analyst expectations of $4.79. However, the upshot was revenue, which rose 26.9% YOY to $15.83 billion, surpassing the consensus forecast of $15.76 billion.

Meanwhile, Schwab posted record EPS and record quarterly revenue of $1.62 and $7.07 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 20.9% YOY, and management highlighted strong operating leverage and a 54.3% adjusted pre-tax profit margin.

Trading activity and lending were major drivers of the quarter, with daily average trades reaching 11.9 million and bank loan balances rising to $67 billion, up 33% YOY.

Looking forward, the company emphasized numerous longer-term growth initiatives, including crypto transfers, private markets, AI tools, tokenization infrastructure, and prediction markets tied to financial events.

While these could expand the platform over time, they are in their early stages and therefore unlikely to materially affect 2026 results.

For investors, the common thread is improving operating momentum. Both stocks may merit watchlist attention if earnings growth continues without a corresponding rise in credit or execution risk.

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