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2 Top-Performing Stocks to Watch as Earnings Approach: FIVE, MU
Set to release their quarterly reports after-market hours on Wednesday, March 18, Five Below and Micron Technology are two of the hottest stocks to consider at the moment.
Providing quality and trendy merchandise for $5 or less, Five Below's stock has performed well as the company continues to post strong financial results while expanding its brick-and-mortar footprint. Meanwhile, Micron is sitting at the center of the global AI boom amid increased demand for advanced memory chips, which have been in tight supply.
As two of the market's top performers, Five Below's stock has soared nearly 200% in the last year, with Micron shares skyrocketing over 340%.
Five Below's Expansion Strategy
Targeting high-traffic suburban shopping centers and underserved markets in over 40 states, Five Below's strategic expansion has been advantageous for a retail leader that provides high-margin impulse products (toys, décor, tech accessories).
Five Below has also boosted its operating leverage by improving inventory management while launching successful marketing strategies. Attributed to robust consumer demand, Five Below has opened more than 400 stores in the last two years after planning to add 40 or more stores in early 2026 across 19 states.
Rounding out fiscal 2025, Five Below's Q4 sales are expected to be up 23% year over year to $1.71 billion, with a 14% spike expected in Q4 EPS at $3.99. Driving investor sentiment is that Five Below has posted a very impressive average EPS surprise of 62.11% over its last four quarterly reports.
The Zacks ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) indicates Five Below could exceed Q4 EPS expectations with the "Most Accurate" and recent estimate among Wall Street analysts at $4.01 and slightly above the underlying Zacks Consensus.
Micron's Memory Chip Advantage
AI training and inference workloads, most notably for Nvidia's GPUs, require massive amounts of high-bandwidth memory (HMB), leading to an infamous supply chain shortage.
This has given Micron and other advanced memory chip producers, such as Sandisk, outstanding leverage as it relates to pricing power. Notably, Micron is one of the few companies capable of producing HBM3E at scale, the memory used in next-generation AI accelerators.
Reporting results for its fiscal second quarter on Wednesday, Micron's Q2 sales are thought to have increased 139% YoY to $19.3 billion compared to $8.05 billion in the comparative quarter. More astonishing, Micron's Q2 EPS is expected at $8.80, a 464% increase from $1.56 per share a year ago.
Plus, the Zacks ESP indicates Micron could exceed these lofty earnings expectations, with the Most Accurate estimate having Q2 EPS slated at $9.56 and 8% above the overall Zacks Consensus.
Over the last four quarters, Micron has posted an average EPS surprise of 14.35%.
Bottom Line
Five Below and Micron Technology are entering their upcoming earnings reports with strong momentum, supportive analyst sentiment, and clear catalysts — making now an attractive moment for investors. Based on a blazing trend of rising EPS revisions, Micron stock is currently boasting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), with Five Below sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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Today you can tap into those powerful strategies – and the high-potential stocks they uncover – free. No strings attached.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights: Five Below, Micron Technology, Nvidia and Sandisk
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – March 18, 2026 – Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Five Below (FIVE - Free Report) , Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) , Nvidia (NVDA - Free Report) and Sandisk (SNDK - Free Report) .
2 Top-Performing Stocks to Watch as Earnings Approach: FIVE, MU
Set to release their quarterly reports after-market hours on Wednesday, March 18, Five Below and Micron Technology are two of the hottest stocks to consider at the moment.
Providing quality and trendy merchandise for $5 or less, Five Below's stock has performed well as the company continues to post strong financial results while expanding its brick-and-mortar footprint. Meanwhile, Micron is sitting at the center of the global AI boom amid increased demand for advanced memory chips, which have been in tight supply.
As two of the market's top performers, Five Below's stock has soared nearly 200% in the last year, with Micron shares skyrocketing over 340%.
Five Below's Expansion Strategy
Targeting high-traffic suburban shopping centers and underserved markets in over 40 states, Five Below's strategic expansion has been advantageous for a retail leader that provides high-margin impulse products (toys, décor, tech accessories).
Five Below has also boosted its operating leverage by improving inventory management while launching successful marketing strategies. Attributed to robust consumer demand, Five Below has opened more than 400 stores in the last two years after planning to add 40 or more stores in early 2026 across 19 states.
Rounding out fiscal 2025, Five Below's Q4 sales are expected to be up 23% year over year to $1.71 billion, with a 14% spike expected in Q4 EPS at $3.99. Driving investor sentiment is that Five Below has posted a very impressive average EPS surprise of 62.11% over its last four quarterly reports.
The Zacks ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) indicates Five Below could exceed Q4 EPS expectations with the "Most Accurate" and recent estimate among Wall Street analysts at $4.01 and slightly above the underlying Zacks Consensus.
Micron's Memory Chip Advantage
AI training and inference workloads, most notably for Nvidia's GPUs, require massive amounts of high-bandwidth memory (HMB), leading to an infamous supply chain shortage.
This has given Micron and other advanced memory chip producers, such as Sandisk, outstanding leverage as it relates to pricing power. Notably, Micron is one of the few companies capable of producing HBM3E at scale, the memory used in next-generation AI accelerators.
Reporting results for its fiscal second quarter on Wednesday, Micron's Q2 sales are thought to have increased 139% YoY to $19.3 billion compared to $8.05 billion in the comparative quarter. More astonishing, Micron's Q2 EPS is expected at $8.80, a 464% increase from $1.56 per share a year ago.
Plus, the Zacks ESP indicates Micron could exceed these lofty earnings expectations, with the Most Accurate estimate having Q2 EPS slated at $9.56 and 8% above the overall Zacks Consensus.
Over the last four quarters, Micron has posted an average EPS surprise of 14.35%.
Bottom Line
Five Below and Micron Technology are entering their upcoming earnings reports with strong momentum, supportive analyst sentiment, and clear catalysts — making now an attractive moment for investors. Based on a blazing trend of rising EPS revisions, Micron stock is currently boasting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), with Five Below sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Free: Instant Access to Zacks' Market-Crushing Strategies
Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.
Today you can tap into those powerful strategies – and the high-potential stocks they uncover – free. No strings attached.
Get all the details here >>
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.