2 Top-Performing Stocks to Watch After Earnings: AI, UNFI

Outside of Adobe ADBE, there aren’t many headline names in this week’s earnings lineup but C3.ai AI and United Natural Foods UNFI are two stocks to keep an eye on after reporting favorable quarterly results.With appealing growth narratives among the tech and consumer staples sectors respectively, C3.ai and United Natural Foods have been two of the stock market's top performers this year and their rallies could continue.   C3.ai - AI Stock Price: $38 Enterprise AI software provider C3.ai has been one the hottest stocks in the last three months, soaring over +60% and now sitting on +32% gains for the year. Of course, market demand and high sentiment toward artificial intelligence have contributed to the rally. To that point, C3.ai has a strategic partnership with Microsoft MSFT as its preferred AI application provider. Most intriguing is that C3.ai’s promising revenue growth has continued. Reporting results for its fiscal second quarter on Monday, C3.ai’s Q2 sales beat Zacks estimates by 3% and expanded 29% year over year to $94.34 million compared to $73.23 million in the comparative quarter.Going public in 2020, C3.ai has moved closer to showing its future earnings potential with Q2 EPS at an adjusted loss of -$0.06 which beat expectations of -$0.16 and rose from -$0.13 per share a year ago.  Image Source: Zacks Investment Research United Natural Foods - UNFI Stock Price: $28As the leading distributor of natural, organic, and specialty food and non-food products, United Natural’s stock has seen quite a rebound in 2024. Soaring +75% YTD, the rally in UNFI may still have legs after United Natural reconfirmed its increased profitability.On Tuesday, United Natural reported its fiscal first quarter results with Q1 EPS spiking to $0.16 versus an adjusted loss of -$0.04 a share in the prior-year quarter. Furthermore, this crushed the Zack EPS Consensus of $0.01. Quarterly sales of $7.87 billion came in 3% above estimates of $7.61 billion and increased from $7.55 billion a year ago.Reassuringly, United Natural’s annual earnings are now expected to climb to $0.66 per share in its current fiscal 2025 compared to EPS of $0.14 in FY24. Plus, FY26 EPS is projected to soar another 55% to $1.03 based on Zacks estimates.  Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Bottom Line Trading under $40 a share, there could be more upside in C3.ai and United Natural Foods stock as earnings estimate revisions are likely to trend higher in the coming weeks. At the moment, United Natural Foods stock boasts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with C3.ai shares sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Zacks Naming Top 10 Stocks for 2025Want to be tipped off early to our 10 top picks for the entirety of 2025?History suggests their performance could be sensational.From 2012 (when our Director of Research Sheraz Mian assumed responsibility for the portfolio) through November, 2024, the Zacks Top 10 Stocks gained +2,112.6%, more than QUADRUPLING the S&P 500’s +475.6%. Now Sheraz is combing through 4,400 companies to handpick the best 10 tickers to buy and hold in 2025. Don’t miss your chance to get in on these stocks when they’re released on January 2.Be First to New Top 10 Stocks >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI): Free Stock Analysis Report C3.ai, Inc. (AI): Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report Adobe Inc. (ADBE): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks