Ticker Reports for August 18th
Big Rallies Brewing? 3 Analyst Favorites to Watch Closely
While timing a rally is notoriously tricky, catalyzing events like earnings reports can sometimes be helpful landmarks for investors.
Companies can receive a big boost on impressive results or promising news, and then it is a matter of maintaining momentum to ensure those gains aren't given back shortly after.
Below, we look at three companies that may be positioned to continue to flourish after recent price spikes, thanks to promising emerging fundamentals and strong bullish sentiment from analysts.
A Dominant Position in U.S. Semiconductor Manufacturing
SkyWater Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYT) provides semiconductor manufacturing services. The company had what was in many ways a lackluster period for the second quarter of 2025. Reporting in early August, SkyWater revealed that losses per share widened considerably as revenue dropped by 37% year-over-year (YOY). One bright spot in SkyWater's financials was gross margin, which improved by 20 basis points YOY to 18.5%. Nonetheless, SkyWater said its results were at the upper end of its expectations.
Investors responded to the earnings news by sending SKYT shares skyrocketing by about 30% in the last month. So why the bullish response? It could be that SkyWater also announced in its report that it had completed the acquisition of a flagship manufacturing facility, Fab 25, from German semiconductor maker Infineon Technologies AG (OTCMKTS: IFNNY). Fab 25 is expected to contribute at least $300 million in annual revenue and to give a big boost to EBITDA, with the impact likely emerging as early as the current quarter.
SkyWater's Fab 25 purchase will help to facilitate its multi-year supply agreement of over $1 billion and, perhaps even more importantly, positions the firm exceptionally well to deliver as changing U.S. regulations push firms toward onshore manufacturing of semiconductors and related components. Given that, it's no surprise that all three analysts reviewing SKYT shares have assigned them a Buy rating, and the rally over the last several weeks, which is already massive, could have reason to continue.
Growing International Business and Successful Expense Trimming
Life sciences firm Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) is known for public health products, including NARCAN nasal spray for treatment of opioid overdose and vaccines and treatments for cholera, typhoid fever, and a range of other diseases. Emergent is coming off of a second quarter that, while yielding mixed results, nonetheless shows important advancements that could yield benefits into the future.
The company missed on revenue in the last quarter, but made notable improvements in EPS, reporting a positive figure when analysts expected a loss and beating predictions by 42 cents per share. The improvement was driven by strong NARCAN sales and, notably, cost optimization strategies and divestments, which substantially reduced expenses and allowed Emergent to launch a $50-million share repurchase program. Liquidity and net leverage are also improving.
Emergent's international medical countermeasures business is rapidly growing. The company recently secured a $65-million contract with the Ontario Ministry of Health for NARCAN and additional revenue-generating contract modifications. With all three analysts reviewing EBS shares rating them a Buy, the company has upside potential of more than 62% despite already climbing more than 21% in the past month.
Despite Mixed Earnings, a Strong Growth Trajectory and Improving Profitability Metrics
Cloud storage provider Backblaze Inc. (NASDAQ: BLZE) noted 16% YOY revenue improvement and a top-line beat in its latest earnings, delivered early in August 2025. The company has netted new high-ARR customers thanks to increasing demand due to AI, helping its storage revenue to surge by 29%. On the other hand, GAAP losses per share came in wider than expected.
Still, profitability metrics like adjusted EBITDA margin are improving overall, and the company's B2 OverDrive platform has launched successfully, including an early six-figure customer in the first weeks of launch. This is a positive sign that Backblaze will be able to continue to build out its infrastructure and scale its offerings. Investors will certainly keep an eye on the company's free cash flow in this process, however, as that has so far remained frustratingly negative.
With one-month gains of more than 48%, Backblaze shares seem to have lit a fire. The company has a unanimous Buy rating from all seven analysts, and a consensus price target above $10 per share would suggest an additional 31% in upside is possible.
Leaked Gov't Memo Reveals $100 Trillion Deadline
Leaked Gov't Memo Reveals $100 Trillion Deadline
Next-Gen Defense: 3 Stocks Riding the New Global Arms Race
Global military expenditure climbed by nearly 10% between 2023 and 2024, reaching $2.7 trillion last year as spending accelerated faster since the Cold War. Ongoing conflicts throughout Eastern Europe and the Middle East threaten to continue driving a worldwide race toward defense growth into the foreseeable future.
While the implications of this increased spending on defense may be catastrophic on a geopolitical level, the increased military budgets of countries around the globe could benefit companies in the defense industry. The firms below are among the top defense names likely to see a boost from continued increases in military spending.
L3Harris Is Growing and Advancing Technology at a Rapid Pace
L3Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LHX) is a defense industry giant, with a market cap above $50 billion. Nonetheless, it has engaged in a rapid-fire expansion of its technological efforts this year. The company's recently announced partnership with electric vertical takeoff and landing firm (eVTOL) Joby Aviation Inc. (NYSE: JOBY) opens a new avenue in the fast-growing eVTOL space and marks a crucial shift toward militarization for this technology.
In mid-August, L3Harris' experimental Navigation Technology Satellite-3—the first defense-focused experimental satellite to launch in almost half a century—was successfully launched.
These announcements arrived shortly after L3Harris posted an all-around earnings win in late July for its second quarter of 2025. The firm handily topped analyst predictions for earnings and revenue for the quarter, driven by the company's efforts to develop tools for the Trump administration's "Golden Dome" project and other initiatives.
The firm's integration with Aerojet Rocketdyne, now complete, has already yielded impressive results; production and deliveries have doubled, leading to record quarterly revenue for this business.
Investors have already priced in substantial optimism surrounding LHX shares, which are up more than 30% so far in 2025. Still, analysts remain bullish, as 13 out of 18 continue to rate LHX a Buy, and earnings are expected to rise by more than 12% in the coming year.
Major Contracts and Pipeline Help Drive Kratos' Massive Rally
A maker of equipment and technology for use in manned and unmanned military systems, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS) is also coming off a successful mid-year earnings report. Not only did revenue grow by 17% year-over-year (YOY), leading to a top-line beat of more than $45 million, but earnings also came in above analyst expectations.
The success of the company's Valkyrie tactical drone in both the United States and international applications, driving quarter performance, has prompted Kratos to increase production.
Kratos is impressing with its contracts, especially with a large pipeline of about $13 billion. The sole-sourced program called Poseidon is a major success, awarding an estimated $750 million contract with production expected to increase in the next two years. This should boost Kratos' performance in the near future and has helped the company raise its full-year guidance.
This firm is a compelling buy for many reasons, not the least because 14 out of 16 analysts support it. However, a rally of more than 160% year-to-date (YTD) has sent Kratos' value metrics through the ceiling—the company has a P/E ratio of nearly 688, for example.
This makes an investment in KTOS shares somewhat more risky than before the rally began. Investors may still choose to seize an opportunity to buy in based on these strong fundamentals, or might prefer to look for a modest dip in share price to make a move.
Disappointing Earnings Weigh on TransDigm Shares, But Long-Term Outlook Is Strong
TransDigm Group Inc. (NYSE: TDG), the largest of these three companies with a market cap of around $80 billion, builds aircraft components for general aerospace and defense applications. The company also stands out for its less-than-stellar earnings in the latest round.
TransDigm missed earnings and revenue for its fiscal third quarter due to issues with Airbus and Boeing (NYSE: BA) and lower commercial build rates.
However, defense revenue is the area to watch, thanks to a 13% YOY improvement in the latest quarter. This helped the company to generate an impressive $630 million in cash flow at the same time. TDG shares fell immediately following the earnings report in early August and have so far failed to recover.
With strong analyst support and upside potential, this may be a unique opportunity to buy the dip.
Your Bank Account Is No Longer Safe
Your Bank Account Is No Longer Safe
Rocket Stock Just Broke Out, But EPS Growth Still Isn't Priced In
Most investors see a stock chart trading near highs and think they’ve missed the boat on the underlying opportunity. While that is sometimes true, there are times when the initial breakout is only the beginning of a much broader move in the future. As it turns out, there is one key financial ratio that investors need to always keep in mind to figure out whether the move is in its early stages or already done.
This ratio is the price-to-earnings-growth (PEG) ratio, and its purpose is solely to account for today’s valuation multiples about tomorrow’s expected earnings per share (EPS) growth. It makes absolute sense since investors are often willing to pay for a stock based on what they think it will generate in earnings in the future, making it highly reliable.
One stock that has recently broken out, but has yet to price in all of its future growth potential, is Rocket Companies Inc. (NYSE: RKT). Investors will soon discover why the stock's PEG ratio indicates significant upside potential for the coming quarters, and how this relates to the broader mortgage industry and the real estate sector.
Why Rocket Companies Could Take Off Soon
Starting from the top, the current housing market has roughly 50% more listings available compared to the same season last year. This means, along with high interest rates on mortgages, that there isn’t a lot of buying demand for properties today (which should hurt Rocket’s business).
However, markets are forward-looking, so they don’t necessarily take today’s level of business activity at face value but rather focus on where this could be tomorrow. By doing so, investors can better understand where the current property supply and mortgage interest rates will need to revert.
If this outlook on housing supply and mortgage rates proves correct, Rocket Companies is positioned for EPS growth that could both justify its rally and sustain momentum moving forward. Even though it now trades at 92% of its 52-week high, driven by a one-month rally of 36.5%, Rocket Companies' stock still has a lot of room to move higher, and here is why.
Earnings Haven’t Been Priced In Yet
Despite the challenges posed by housing and mortgages, Rocket Companies reported 4 cents in earnings per share (EPS) for the latest quarter, exceeding the market’s expectations of only 3 cents.
This resilience was only the foundation for this double-digit rally. Still, investors need to remember that the future matters most. Wall Street analysts now expect Rocket Companies to report 12 cents in EPS for the fourth quarter of 2025, implying a tripling from today’s reported earnings.
Here is where the PEG ratio comes into play. This threefold EPS growth expectation for the future would need to command a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just over 100.0x for this sort of growth to be priced in correctly, and today’s 24.1x multiple falls significantly below this benchmark.
That translates into a 0.1x PEG ratio, where a 1.0x figure means all growth has been priced in. Essentially, 90% of Rocket Companies’ future EPS growth has not been priced in yet, giving investors a massive upside opportunity before the rest of the market catches this view.
If anything, investors can look to the $416 million worth of institutional buying that has taken place over the most recent quarter, and take this signal as a vote of confidence coming from the “smart money” corners of the market, believing that this narrative is very much in place for Rocket Companies and its future potential.
Leading the pack are those from Boston Partners, who just boosted their holdings in Rocket Companies stock by 6.2% as of early August 2025. This new allocation brought their net position to a high of $206 million today, a significant amount for a company that has been relatively left behind in the other aggressive rallies seen in the broader economy.
Now investors have a fundamental reason rooted in the cyclical nature of real estate and interest rates and a quantitative driver behind the fact that this company is a growth engine in the making. Yet, today’s prices do not reflect even a fraction of that future growth, creating a massive gap to be filled on the upside with minimal inherent downside at the same time.
The $60 Billion Tesla Mystery No One Can Explain… Until Now
The $60 Billion Tesla Mystery No One Can Explain… Until Now
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