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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights NVIDIA, Micron, Chevron and Exxon
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For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – October 5 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks and ETFs featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) , Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) , Chevron (CVX - Free Report) , Exxon Mobil (XOM - Free Report)
Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:
AI & Oil Shape Market Leadership in the First 9 Months of 2026
Nine months into 2026, investors have had to observe a rare combination of accelerating AI investment, renewed monetary tightening, elevated Treasury yields and a sharp energy-price shock. Yet these crosscurrents have not translated into a uniform market response.
Technology has remained at the center of the equity story as hyperscalers and enterprises continue to commit enormous sums to AI infrastructure. Energy has benefited from a dramatic rise in crude prices amid geopolitical disruptions. At the same time, higher borrowing costs and persistent inflation have complicated the valuation outlook, particularly for growth stocks whose future cash flows are more sensitive to interest rates.
Equity Gains Defy a Challenging Environment
The resilience of equities despite these pressures makes the nine-month review particularly relevant as the fourth quarter begins. From January to September, the S&P 500 gained 11.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 15.6%. Reuters reported that global equity indexes were only about 2% below record highs. However, the strong headline performance came against a challenging macro backdrop, with the 10-year Treasury yield moving above 5% and Brent crude gaining about 40% in the third quarter.
The headline gains, however, do not tell the entire story. Market leadership remained concentrated in areas benefiting from the AI investment boom, while energy stocks gained from the sharp rise in crude prices and changing geopolitical dynamics. Meanwhile, elevated yields and persistent inflation continued to raise the bar for equity valuations.
Against this backdrop, technology and energy emerged as two of the most consequential sector stories of the first nine months, albeit for very different fundamental reasons.
Technology: AI Turns Capital Spending Into an Earnings Engine
Technology's dominance in 2026 has increasingly been supported by earnings rather than AI enthusiasm alone. According to the Zacks Earnings Trend report (Sept. 30 update), the tech sector is expected to post 42.1% earnings growth in the third quarter of 2026, with semiconductor earnings projected to surge 85.5% on 62.8% revenue growth.
The concentration of growth is notable. Per Zacks estimates, Tech earnings growth would moderate to 29.6% excluding semiconductors and to 20.6% excluding NVIDIA, Micron and Alphabet. This highlights the significant earnings leverage from AI spending, while also showing the outsized contribution of a handful of companies.
NVIDIA exemplifies this trend, with fiscal second-quarter 2027 revenues rising 106% year over year and Data Center revenues jumping 117%. Micron Technology offers another direct play on AI infrastructure. Yesterday, the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue surge of 379.3% year over year, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.33%, while EPS of $33.42 topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.73%. The results reflect strong demand for memory products tied to AI infrastructure.
Energy: Geopolitics Creates a Second Earnings Engine
Energy's earnings story is being driven by a different force. Middle East disruptions pushed Brent above $100 per barrel during September. Going by the trend report, Zacks expects Energy earnings to surge 111.8% in the third quarter, while the sector received the most pronounced upgrade to its earnings outlook since the quarter began.
Chevron reported $12 billion in second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings, its highest quarterly profit in six years, with upstream earnings rising 200% to $8.2 billion and U.S. production reaching a record nearly 2.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. Exxon Mobil reported $14.7 billion in second-quarter adjusted earnings, $23.6 billion in operating cash flow and $17.2 billion in free cash flow.
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.
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/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights NVIDIA, Micron, Chevron and Exxon
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – October 5 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks and ETFs featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) , Micron Technology (MU - Free Report) , Chevron (CVX - Free Report) , Exxon Mobil (XOM - Free Report)
Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:
AI & Oil Shape Market Leadership in the First 9 Months of 2026
Nine months into 2026, investors have had to observe a rare combination of accelerating AI investment, renewed monetary tightening, elevated Treasury yields and a sharp energy-price shock. Yet these crosscurrents have not translated into a uniform market response.
Technology has remained at the center of the equity story as hyperscalers and enterprises continue to commit enormous sums to AI infrastructure. Energy has benefited from a dramatic rise in crude prices amid geopolitical disruptions. At the same time, higher borrowing costs and persistent inflation have complicated the valuation outlook, particularly for growth stocks whose future cash flows are more sensitive to interest rates.
Equity Gains Defy a Challenging Environment
The resilience of equities despite these pressures makes the nine-month review particularly relevant as the fourth quarter begins. From January to September, the S&P 500 gained 11.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 15.6%. Reuters reported that global equity indexes were only about 2% below record highs. However, the strong headline performance came against a challenging macro backdrop, with the 10-year Treasury yield moving above 5% and Brent crude gaining about 40% in the third quarter.
The headline gains, however, do not tell the entire story. Market leadership remained concentrated in areas benefiting from the AI investment boom, while energy stocks gained from the sharp rise in crude prices and changing geopolitical dynamics. Meanwhile, elevated yields and persistent inflation continued to raise the bar for equity valuations.
Against this backdrop, technology and energy emerged as two of the most consequential sector stories of the first nine months, albeit for very different fundamental reasons.
Technology: AI Turns Capital Spending Into an Earnings Engine
Technology's dominance in 2026 has increasingly been supported by earnings rather than AI enthusiasm alone. According to the Zacks Earnings Trend report (Sept. 30 update), the tech sector is expected to post 42.1% earnings growth in the third quarter of 2026, with semiconductor earnings projected to surge 85.5% on 62.8% revenue growth.
The concentration of growth is notable. Per Zacks estimates, Tech earnings growth would moderate to 29.6% excluding semiconductors and to 20.6% excluding NVIDIA, Micron and Alphabet. This highlights the significant earnings leverage from AI spending, while also showing the outsized contribution of a handful of companies.
NVIDIA exemplifies this trend, with fiscal second-quarter 2027 revenues rising 106% year over year and Data Center revenues jumping 117%. Micron Technology offers another direct play on AI infrastructure. Yesterday, the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue surge of 379.3% year over year, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.33%, while EPS of $33.42 topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.73%. The results reflect strong demand for memory products tied to AI infrastructure.
Energy: Geopolitics Creates a Second Earnings Engine
Energy's earnings story is being driven by a different force. Middle East disruptions pushed Brent above $100 per barrel during September. Going by the trend report, Zacks expects Energy earnings to surge 111.8% in the third quarter, while the sector received the most pronounced upgrade to its earnings outlook since the quarter began.
Chevron reported $12 billion in second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings, its highest quarterly profit in six years, with upstream earnings rising 200% to $8.2 billion and U.S. production reaching a record nearly 2.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. Exxon Mobil reported $14.7 billion in second-quarter adjusted earnings, $23.6 billion in operating cash flow and $17.2 billion in free cash flow.
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/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.