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

Key Points

• ArcBest, Kulicke & Soffa, and Cohu have each rallied at least 70% year to date despite a broader AI industry sell-off affecting the market.
• ArcBest's momentum depends on freight recovery and shipment growth, while its revenue grew only 3% year over year despite a 100% YTD stock gain.
• Kulicke & Soffa and Cohu are riding AI-related semiconductor packaging and testing demand, though analysts remain cautious about cyclical risks and margin pressure.

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 decline that 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 potential and favor the stock with seven Buy ratings compared to just one Hold and one Sell.