Despite US growth shares trading at a premium, there’s still plenty of excitement floating around. And in the case of three businesses, their upcoming earnings reports in August could be a catalyst for a sudden surge upwards.
1. Independent oil & gas
Going into its second quarter earnings, Permian Resources (NYSE:PR) has been gaining a lot of momentum with its share price up almost 40% since April. A big chunk of this impressive trajectory came following its first quarter results in May, which sent the stock flying by double digits as the oil & gas enterprise far exceeded expectations.
Through a combination of robust cost controls and better-than-expected production volumes, the company reported its highest free cash flow in the history of the business, setting a new record high. That’s despite a downward trajectory in oil & gas prices during the period. And if its August results hold similar positive surprises, the growth stock could be due for another surge.
However, it’s important to remember that nothing’s set in stone. The downward trend in oil & gas prices has since continued, averaging around $60 per barrel over the last three months versus the first quarter’s $70. That creates a natural headwind if management can’t offset this decline with increased production.
2. AI Infrastructure
Another US growth business that’s seen its shares surge this year is CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV). Despite only going public in March, the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure cloud provider has already delivered a whopping 215% return for shareholders!
Looking at its first quarter results, that’s not a major surprise given revenues exploded by 420%, driven by high demand from AI companies looking to rent computing power to train their models. This has also translated into a 63% year-on-year increase in revenue backlog from $15.9bn to $25.9bn, thanks mostly to a new strategic partnership with OpenAI (creators of ChatGPT).
Moving into the second quarter, expectations are high. But while its history as a public company is still short, a similar display of gargantuan growth could send the stock flying once second-quarter earnings are released in August.
Having said that, even if the firm continues to outperform, there’s no guarantee that the shares will climb higher. Why? Because Augst is also when the IPO lock-up expires, releasing around 180 million pre-IPO shares into the market. In other words, a massive wave of selling activity may be just around the corner as insiders look to take their profits.
3. More AI spending
CoreWeave isn’t the only business looking to cash in on AI, with Amazon also reporting next month. Its first quarter results beat expectations, reversing the downward trend from earlier in the year, underpinned by higher AI workloads. And with AI spending still ramping up, the growth from its AWS division could continue into the second quarter, pushing Amazon shares even higher.
But just like the other growth shares on this list, there are threats to consider. The company has significant exposure to the tariff trade war, particularly with China. And while AWS is proving to be a cash cow, there are growing concerns of deceleration that could prevent the stock from taking off next month.
Nevertheless, all three businesses appear to have a lot of potential. So investors may want to take a closer look.
