Wall Street heads into August with the mega-cap earnings rush in the rearview. Chair Kevin Warsh's June 17 FOMC left the fed funds range at 3.50%-3.75% and said inflation risks had "eased substantially," while CME Group's FedWatch tool continues to imply roughly an 80% probability of zero cuts through the remainder of 2026. Analysts used Friday, July 31 to push a broad slate of Buy upgrades. Here are five Strong Buy candidates worth watching on Monday, August 3.
Saia (SAIA) — Stifel Buys the LTL Beat
Saia is a fast-growing less-than-truckload carrier expanding its terminal network to consolidate share from Yellow's 2023 exit. On July 31, Stifel analyst J. Bruce Chan upgraded SAIA from Hold to Buy while trimming his price target to $438 from $450, after the company posted second-quarter adjusted EPS of $3.51 topping Street consensus of $3.38 and revenue up 17.1% year over year to a record $956.5 million. Chan pointed to contract renewals up 10.7% in June and July and a 7.1% general rate increase. UBS's Thomas Wadewitz maintained Buy at $504 the same day.
Shares closed at $347.63 on July 31, down 0.86% on the session, with a market cap of $9.27 billion and a trailing P/E of 38.16 on EPS of $9.11. The 52-week range is $249.32 to $494.71. The consensus rating is Buy, with 11 of 17 tracked analysts bullish, an average target of $463.24, a median of $488, a high of $550 and a low of $285.
Risks: Q3 operating ratio is expected to worsen by roughly 100 basis points sequentially on wage, fuel and insurance pressures, revenue per hundredweight excluding fuel declined 2.2% in Q2, LTL freight demand remains cyclical, and Morgan Stanley's Ravi Shanker stays Underweight at $285 on a more cautious view of the pricing and volume trajectory.
AXT Inc. (AXTI) — Needham Sees an AI Networking Kicker
AXT is a specialty compound-semiconductor substrate maker whose indium phosphide and gallium arsenide wafers feed high-speed optical transceivers used in AI data centers. On July 31, Needham's Charles Shi upgraded AXTI from Hold to Buy at $90, citing another "substantial" beat with Q2 revenue and Q3 guidance well ahead of consensus and pointing to a real AI-networking opportunity as hyperscalers ramp 800-gigabit and 1.6-terabit optics. Wedbush's Matt Bryson maintained Outperform at $93 on May 1.
Shares closed at $60.43 on July 31, up 28.74% on the guidance-driven rally, with a market cap of $3.07 billion. AXT remains unprofitable on a trailing basis, so a trailing P/E is not meaningful, with EPS of negative $0.24. The 52-week range is $1.90 to $143.16. The consensus rating is Buy, with 2 of 3 tracked analysts bullish, an average target of $52.67, a median of $55, a high of $93 and a low of $10.
Risks: Compound-semiconductor demand is highly cyclical, gross margins remain sensitive to InP substrate pricing and Chinese competition, the stock's parabolic rebound has stretched valuation, and B. Riley's Kang stays Neutral at $55 with a more cautious view of how quickly optics volumes translate to sustained AXT profitability.
Essex Property Trust (ESS) — Citizens Turns Constructive on West Coast Apartments
Essex Property Trust is the largest publicly traded owner of Class A apartment communities on the West Coast, with roughly 250 properties concentrated in coastal California and Seattle. On July 31, Citizens analyst Aaron Hecht upgraded ESS from Market Perform to Market Outperform at $330, joining sell-side firms that see West Coast apartment fundamentals inflecting on tighter supply and a return-to-office boost. RBC Capital's Brad Heffern raised his Outperform target to $312 the same day, and Evercore ISI's Steve Sakwa lifted his Outperform target to $303 on July 30.
Shares closed at $284.14 on July 31, up 0.81% on the session, with a market cap of $18.26 billion and a trailing P/E of 20.85 on EPS of $13.63. The dividend yield is roughly 4%. The 52-week range is $238.46 to $303.35. The consensus rating is Buy, with 6 of 14 tracked analysts bullish, an average target of $297.82, a median of $296.50, a high of $352 and a low of $275.
Risks: California rent-regulation risk remains a structural overhang, tech-sector layoffs could soften Bay Area demand, higher-for-longer rates weigh on REIT valuations, and JP Morgan's Anthony Paolone holds Underweight at $275, framing a more measured view than the newly bullish crowd.
Plexus (PLXS) — Sidoti Joins the Bull Camp
Plexus is a high-mix, low-volume electronic manufacturing services provider that builds complex products for healthcare, aerospace and industrial customers. On July 31, Sidoti analyst Anja Soderstrom upgraded PLXS from Neutral to Buy at a $308 price target on continued execution and margin expansion in the healthcare and aerospace-defense segments. Stifel's Ruben Roy maintains Buy at $330 (raised from $280 on June 22), and Needham's David Williams reiterated Buy at $310 on June 1.
Shares closed at $251.34 on July 31, up 3.86% on the session, with a market cap of $6.72 billion and a trailing P/E of 31.94 on EPS of $7.87. The 52-week range is $125.92 to $307.06. The consensus rating is Strong Buy, with 3 of 4 tracked analysts bullish, an average target of $252.50, a median of $265, a high of $330 and a low of $150.
Risks: Contract-manufacturing revenue can be lumpy quarter to quarter, defense and medical-device program timing is customer-dependent, valuation is near cycle highs after more than a double from January 2025 lows, and the $150 low tracked target (a legacy Sidoti mark) still frames a more cautious view of where the shares could re-rate on any program slippage.
Nextpower (NXT) — BMO Capital Sees a Reset Setup
Nextpower is a leading U.S. provider of utility-scale solar-tracker systems, with an expanding portfolio of electrical balance-of-system, storage and eBOS foundations for large ground-mount solar projects. On July 31, BMO Capital analyst Ameet Thakkar upgraded NXT from Market Perform to Outperform, telling investors that valuation has "materially reset despite meaningful strategic progress," including acquisitions that expand share-of-wallet across storage, power conversion and eBOS. JP Morgan's Mark Strouse maintained Overweight at $152 and Truist's Christopher Souther held Buy at $145, both on July 31.
Shares closed at $89.87 on July 31, down 7.25% on the session following a post-earnings pullback, with a market cap of $13.63 billion and a trailing P/E of 19.97 on EPS of $4.50. The 52-week range is $52.61 to $163.13. The consensus rating is Strong Buy, with 14 of 17 tracked analysts bullish, an average target of $151.14, a median of $149.44, a high of $182 and a low of $118.
Risks: U.S. solar-project timing remains sensitive to interconnection queues, IRA policy and tariff overhangs, gross margins are pressured by module and steel input costs, guidance revisions have driven post-print volatility, and even after the BMO upgrade the $118 low target frames a more measured view than the group.
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