HALO

Zacks identifies five Strong Buy growth stocks with improving margins ahead of earnings season: Chord Energy, Halozyme Therapeutics, Sezzle, SanDisk, and Teradyne. These companies demonstrate strong revenue growth, solid profitability, and exposure to key growth drivers including AI infrastructure, semiconductor testing, healthcare technology, and digital payments. All five stocks carry Zacks Rank #1 and Growth Score A ratings.

Zacks highlights five non-tech Nasdaq stocks with Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) ratings positioned for Q4 gains. Ross Stores benefits from strong sales momentum and store expansion; Roku capitalizes on the shift from linear TV to streaming advertising; APA Corp offers favorable capital efficiency and long-term growth; Corcept Therapeutics sees strong demand for Korlym and new product launches; Halozyme benefits from collaboration royalties and milestone payments.

Zacks.com highlights five stocks showing strong relative price strength and outperforming the S&P 500: Halozyme Therapeutics, GigaCloud Technology, Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Permian Resources, and Chevron Corp. The article recommends focusing on stocks with consistent outperformance, solid fundamentals, and positive earnings estimate revisions in the current volatile market environment.

U.S. equities remain resilient despite AI-linked tech weakness, with sector rotation indicating broader market strength. The article recommends a relative price strength strategy to identify stocks outperforming the S&P 500 with solid fundamentals and positive earnings revisions. Five stocks highlighted include Halozyme Therapeutics, GigaCloud Technology, Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Permian Resources, and Chevron Corporation.

A $1,000 investment in Halozyme Therapeutics (HALO) made in October 2016 would be worth $11,612.33 as of October 15, 2026, representing a 1,061.23% gain. This significantly outperformed the S&P 500's 261.89% return over the same period. The biopharmaceutical company's success is driven by royalties from its ENHANZE drug delivery technology licensed to major pharma partners, though it faces headwinds from biosimilar competition on blockbuster drugs.

Halozyme Therapeutics is highlighted as an attractive growth stock pick with a Zacks Growth Score of A and Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The company demonstrates exceptional earnings growth of 112.1% projected for the year, significantly outpacing the industry average of 14.7%, along with strong asset utilization efficiency and positive earnings estimate revisions.

Halozyme Therapeutics has demonstrated a strong track record of beating earnings estimates, surpassing consensus by an average of 14.59% over the last two quarters. With a positive Earnings ESP of +2.78% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) rating, analysts suggest the company is well-positioned to continue this earnings beat streak in its upcoming quarterly report.

A Dutch patent court ruled that Merck's Keytruda subcutaneous formulation infringes Halozyme's MDASE patent, ordering Merck to cease manufacturing and sales across eight European markets. The ruling does not affect Keytruda's intravenous version. This marks another legal victory for Halozyme against Merck, though the company clarified that its separate ENHANZE technology and licensing business remain unaffected.

Halozyme Therapeutics announced an expansion of its collaboration with argenx, increasing exclusive ENHANZE technology targets from six to eight. The deal includes milestone payments and royalties on product sales. Halozyme raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $1.84-$1.91 billion, driven by strong royalty growth from J&J's Darzalex and argenx's Vyvgart Hytrulo.

As October 2026 earnings season approaches, five companies with Zacks Rank #1 and Growth Score A ratings stand out for combining strong revenue growth with high operating margins. Chord Energy, Halozyme, Sezzle, SanDisk, and Teradyne are positioned to benefit from trends in energy, healthcare technology, digital payments, semiconductors, and AI infrastructure.

Elevance Health reported Q3 2026 adjusted EPS of $6.99, significantly beating estimates by 50%, with revenue reaching $50.4B. The Carelon segment drove growth with 5.4% revenue increase and 17.2% operating gain growth. The company raised its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to at least $29.00 and increased its earnings baseline to at least $26.75.

Krystal Biotech announced positive pilot study results for KB113, an investigational immunotherapy for basal cell carcinomas in Gorlin syndrome patients. The treatment showed clinical regression in 83.1% of assessed lesions across three patients, including 85.1% regression in non-injected lesions suggesting systemic immune activity. KB113 was well tolerated, and the company has begun FDA discussions on advanced clinical development.

Despite the Nasdaq's tech-heavy composition, five non-tech Nasdaq-listed stocks with Zacks Rank #1 ratings are positioned for strong growth. Ross Stores plans 115 store openings with 13% Q2 sales growth, Roku's advertising revenue climbed 24.8%, APA Corp benefits from cost savings and long-term growth projects, Corcept Therapeutics sees strong drug demand with recent FDA approvals, and Halozyme generates royalties from pharma collaborations.

Zacks analysts published research on 16 major stocks on October 14, 2026. Mastercard received a Neutral rating despite strong performance, citing competitive pricing pressure and premium valuation concerns.

AstraZeneca faces patent erosion challenges but benefits from strong pipeline drugs and expects $80 billion in revenues by 2030. SanDisk received an Outperform rating, driven by AI inference demand and strong datacenter exposure. Other notable stocks analyzed include Exelon, General Mills, and Halozyme, with mixed outlooks across various sectors.