3 Stocks With Fresh Catalysts to Watch Before the July 4

Key Points

• Broadcom's post-earnings selloff followed record revenue of $22.2 billion and 143% AI chip growth, creating a potential entry point for patient investors.
• Palo Alto Networks reported 60% year-over-year Next Generation Security ARR growth to $8.13 billion, countering fears that AI would diminish cybersecurity demand.
• Planet Labs, up over 25% in three months, is expanding its satellite constellation and government contracts while pursuing a subscription-based path to profitability.

Stocks charged higher in May, but it may take some time before investors know how much upside is left.

Summer can be a tricky season for the market. As many institutional investors step away from their screens for a bit, trading volumes thin out, making strong moves in either direction hard to take at face value.

However, this historically quiet time is an excellent opportunity for investors to position themselves for a strong second half. That starts with putting together a watch list.

With the July 4 holiday approaching, now is a good time to look for stocks that could have more room to run once Wall Street gets back to full speed. Here are three names worth considering before the fireworks begin.

Broadcom: A Selloff That Puts the AI Thesis Back in Focus

Broadcom NASDAQ: AVGO just posted a quarter that would make most chipmakers jealous.

The company delivered record revenue of $22.2 billion, record free cash flow and AI chip growth of 143% year over year (YOY). 

Investor response was a gut punch: shares sank roughly 14% when the market opened and finished the day down around 12%.

The reason? Investors were disappointed that the company did not raise its outlook for AI-related revenue.

That's worth putting in context. CEO Hock Tan said Broadcom expects to Broadcom to generate $16 billion in AI semiconductor revenue in fiscal Q3 2026, up more than 200% YOY. For the full fiscal year, the company expects AI semiconductor revenue to reach $56 billion and reiterated that it remains on track to exceed $100 billion in fiscal 2027.

Broadcom’s AI exposure reaches across some of the biggest names in the AI buildout: Google (Alphabet: NASDAQ: GOOGL), Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META, and two additional unnamed customers, while also pointing to an AI XPU platform with Apollo, Blackstone, and other investors designed to deploy more than 20 gigawatts of compute capacity through 2028. For Anthropic specifically, Broadcom said TPU-based compute agreements include more than one gigawatt in 2026 and another five gigawatts beginning in 2027.

That means the post-earnings sell-off looks more like the market moving the goalposts than Broadcom missing them.

Broadcom now trades at a notable discount to semiconductor peers on forward P/E despite historically commanding a premium multiple, and its long-term uptrend remains intact. That’s a dip that can reward patient investors.

Palo Alto Networks: Cybersecurity's "SaaSpocalypse" Never Came

Earlier this year, investors fretted that AI would gut the software sector, including cybersecurity companies. 

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW recently delivered its fiscal Q3 2026 earnings report and CEO Nikesh Arora pushed back on the “SaaSpocalypse” narrative, arguing that AI is making cybersecurity more urgent, not less. The more powerful the AI tools that potential bad actors can access, the more sophisticated the defense needs to be.

Palo Alto noted that over 1,200 customers reached out in the wake of Mythos, and that the company held 800 meetings over six weeks to prepare for the shifting AI threat landscape.

The numbers back up Palo Alto’s CEO. The company delivered a record quarter, with 60% YOY growth in Next Generation Security ARR, bringing the total to $8.13 billion. That kind of ARR growth coming from a sector leader signals growth that is more than a cyclical trend. In addition, the company counted 2,280 total platformized customers with a 120% net retention rate.

Put those two numbers together, and it suggests existing customers are staying and spending more.

PANW is up over 40% year-to-date (YTD), but with raised guidance and expanding free cash flow, the run may have more room.

Planet Labs: The Quiet Space Stock With Eyes on Everything

Planet Labs PBC NYSE: PL doesn't get the headlines that rocket companies do, but it may be doing something more commercially durable: building the world's most comprehensive real-time picture of Earth.

The company operates a constellation of satellites that can image every point on the planet daily. 

They then sell that data to agriculture, defense, government, and commercial customers who need situational awareness that no other platform can provide.

Like most space stocks, PL has had strong momentum, climbing over 25% over the past three months. The recent momentum reflects a combination of hardware milestones and contract wins. 

Planet launched three new Pelican satellites to orbit aboard a SpaceX rideshare mission on May 3, 2026. The company received high-resolution first light imagery within days of launch—a sign of a maturing deployment cadence

The company has been steadily building government relationships across Europe. For example, Planet Labs Germany landed a two-year, seven-figure enterprise contract with the Greek government, via the European Space Agency, adding to a growing backlog of sovereign clients.

The bull case is straightforward: a subscription-based data business with a government-heavy revenue mix, a growing satellite fleet, and a clear path toward profitability.