Three Stocks with Earnings Acceleration Catalysts for 2026

The market is shifting gears. After a prolonged rally in AI infrastructure, investors are rotating away from companies with debt-funded capex and slowing earnings growth. The new focus is on clear revenue links to AI spending, creating a mispricing opportunity for stocks with accelerating profit trajectories. The core thesis is simple: earnings growth is the most important characteristic of winning stocks, and accelerating growth-where quarterly profits expand at a faster pace than before-is the hallmark of a major price advance. As the AI arms race enters a decisive phase, the winners will be those that can monetize the investment boom, not just build the hardware.

Three specific stocks stand out with clear catalysts for 2026. First is Micron Technology, a direct beneficiary of the AI memory boom. The company is capitalizing on the demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM3E) solutions, with its fiscal 2026 earnings consensus pegged at a staggering $31.36 per share, indicating an increase of 278.3% year over year. This explosive growth is tied directly to the scaling of AI inference workloads, providing a tangible link between capex and future revenue.

Second is CrowdStrike, where AI-driven demand is accelerating its core endpoint business. The company just reported a quarter of broad-based strength, with its total ending ARR accelerating to 23% year-over-year growth and net new ARR up 73% year-over-year. Management explicitly cited AI-driven demand as a catalyst for the endpoint segment, which is now the epicenter of risk as AI pushes to the edge. This creates a powerful, recurring revenue stream tied to corporate AI adoption.

Third is Denali Therapeutics, where a pivotal regulatory decision looms in the first quarter of 2026. The company's Biologics License Application for its MPS II therapy has been extended to April 5, 2026. While the extension is procedural, a positive decision would unlock a commercial launch and represent a clear, binary catalyst for earnings. The stock's trajectory is now defined by this near-term regulatory event.

The setup is a classic rotation into productivity beneficiaries. The market is rewarding companies where AI investment demonstrably boosts revenue and profit, not just those spending heavily on infrastructure. For traders, the opportunity is to identify these accelerating growth stories before the broader market fully recognizes their earnings potential.

Micron Technology: The Memory Boom Accelerates

The memory market is in a structural shortage, and Micron Technology is the primary beneficiary. The company's fiscal 2026 earnings are projected to explode to $31.36 per share, representing a staggering 278.3% year-over-year growth. This acceleration is driven by insatiable demand from AI, where supply simply cannot keep up. As Micron's CEO stated, the company can only meet about 50% to two-thirds of its demand from key customers. This persistent gap is the engine for pricing power and revenue growth.

The stock's performance reflects this reality. Micron shares have more than tripled in 2025, and the momentum is set to continue. The fundamental setup is clear: AI infrastructure spending is surging, with global AI investment expected to exceed $2 trillion in 2026. This capital expenditure fuels demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and NAND storage, both of which Micron is scaling to meet. The company's guidance for a 132% year-over-year revenue jump in its current quarter underscores the near-term trajectory.

For traders, the catalyst is the sustained execution of this demand-supply imbalance. The analyst consensus price target implies significant upside, with technical analysis pointing to a 30% to 80% gain before mid-2026. The risk is that the market eventually prices in this growth, but for now, the structural shortage provides a durable floor for the stock's explosive run.

CrowdStrike: AI-Driven Demand Accelerates Growth

CrowdStrike's latest quarter is a textbook case of a growth story accelerating. The company's endpoint business, its core security platform, saw a significant uptick in demand, which management explicitly attributes to AI-driven demand. This shift is the catalyst. As AI applications move to the edge and employees deploy new tools directly onto their machines, the endpoint has become the epicenter of risk. This dynamic is forcing enterprises to replace legacy security solutions, creating a powerful tailwind for CrowdStrike's platform.

The financial results reflect this acceleration. Total Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) growth accelerated to 23% year-over-year in the third quarter, up from 20% the prior quarter. More telling is the net new ARR metric, which surged 73% year-over-year to $265 million, far exceeding guidance. This isn't just top-line growth; it's profitability growth. The company delivered an operating margin of 21.4% while revenue grew 22.2% to $1.23 billion, beating consensus on all key metrics.

Management's outlook confirms the momentum. They are now guiding for low to mid-teen sequential net new ARR growth from Q3 to Q4, which would bring full-year ARR growth to 23%. More importantly, they have raised their expectation for FY2027 net new ARR growth to at least 20%. This is a critical upgrade because it's coming off a higher FY2026 run-rate, meaning the company is accelerating its growth trajectory even as it gets larger. The guidance revision for FY2026 revenue and operating margin further underscores confidence in this continued expansion.

The bottom line is that CrowdStrike is executing on its platform consolidation strategy while riding a powerful external wave. The AI-driven demand for endpoint security is validating its Falcon Flex platform and driving adoption of new modules. For investors, the setup is clear: the stock's strong track record of growth and profitability is being reinforced by a fundamental shift in enterprise risk, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of demand.

Denali Therapeutics: A Binary Catalyst for 2026

The regulatory clock for Denali's lead asset has been reset, creating a clear binary catalyst for 2026. The FDA has extended the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target date for the Biologics License Application (BLA) of tividenofusp alfa to April 5, 2026, from the original January 5, 2026, deadline. This three-month delay, triggered by Denali's submission of updated clinical pharmacology information classified as a Major Amendment, is procedural and does not signal concerns over efficacy or safety. The company maintains that the submitted data do not alter the clinical pharmacology or benefit-risk profile of the application.

The drug's regulatory standing is strong, which amplifies the potential impact of the delayed decision. Tividenofusp alfa holds Breakthrough Therapy and Fast Track designations from the FDA, recognizing its potential to address a severe unmet medical need. It is designed to cross the blood-brain barrier-a key differentiator for Hunter syndrome (MPS II)-and recent Phase 1/2 data published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed it could normalize disease biomarkers and stabilize or improve clinical endpoints. A successful approval would unlock a significant growth runway for Denali, validating its core TransportVehicle platform technology for neurodegenerative diseases.

This regulatory event aligns with a broader biotech momentum that has already rewarded early conviction. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index climbed 33.8% in 2025, driven by a steady stream of approvals and pipeline catalysts. Denali is one of three biotech stocks highlighted for high-impact 2026 catalysts, all of which delivered strong performances in the second half of the year. The stock's trajectory into 2026 will now pivot sharply on the April 5 decision. A positive outcome would likely trigger a re-rating, while a negative or further delay would test the stock's resilience. For now, the setup is a classic binary bet on a pivotal regulatory date.

Catalysts and Risks for 2026

The AI investment cycle is entering a critical phase where the market will separate winners from laggards. The primary near-term catalyst is the anticipated shift from AI infrastructure to the commercialization of "Agentic AI" systems. These are software agents capable of autonomously executing complex tasks, moving beyond simple query responses. Analysts project this transition could add $1 trillion to the global economy by 2030 by automating work in areas like IT support and customer service. For the three stocks in focus, the key question is whether they are positioned to capture this next wave of productivity gains, not just build the underlying data centers.

The major risk for 2026 is a potential "AI air-pocket" if the promised productivity from trillions in capital expenditure fails to materialize. While global AI Capex is still forecast to grow robustly, hitting between $527 billion and $571 billion, the growth rate is expected to slow from the 60%+ levels of recent years. More critically, the market is already rotating away from pure infrastructure plays where earnings are under pressure. The divergence is clear: investors are rewarding companies that can demonstrate a direct link between their AI spending and revenue. This sets up a high-stakes test for the fourth-quarter earnings reports, which begin in mid-January. The market will scrutinize which companies are successfully monetizing their AI investments and which are merely funding future growth.

The setup for these three stocks hinges on this earnings season. They must show that their massive capital commitments are translating into tangible business results. If they can, they will be seen as the platform enablers for the Agentic AI economy. If not, they risk being caught in the regulatory and financial headwinds that could trigger the feared air-pocket. The coming weeks will define whether the AI boom is entering a sustainable efficiency phase or facing a painful correction.