Astera Labs reported record second-quarter revenue of $392.4 million, up 104% year over year, driven by strong demand for AI infrastructure connectivity products. PCIe 6.0 products accounted for over half of total sales, up from roughly one-third in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP earnings per share rose to $0.80, whilst gross margin reached 73.7%. The company's Scorpio X-Series fabric switches entered volume production and are expected to become Astera's largest product family by revenue in the third quarter, earlier than previously forecast. Management projects third-quarter revenue between $540 million and $560 million, representing approximately 40% sequential growth. Chief executive Jitendra Mohan attributed the growth to continued spending by hyperscalers, sovereign AI initiatives, and expanding enterprise adoption. The company is also developing optical-connectivity products targeted for volume production beginning in 2027.

Jim Cramer has reversed his stance on Astera Labs, telling investors to "buy, buy, buy" the stock during CNBC's "Mad Money" on 29 July. The shift is notable because Cramer previously flagged the semiconductor company as too expensive compared to established chip makers like Broadcom. Astera Labs shares fell more than 40% from an all-time high of $499.48 on 30 June to the mid-$200s in late July, caught in a broader selloff of AI stocks. The decline wasn't driven by business fundamentals — first-quarter revenue rose 93% year over year to $308.4 million. Cramer said the drop reflected market sentiment rather than operational issues. The company reports second-quarter results on 4 August. Astera Labs designs connectivity hardware that moves data between chips in AI data centres.

AMD stock rebounds with chips ahead of Q2 report; SpaceX Earnings, lockup expiration loom large. * KEN SHREVE * 10:59 AM ET 07/31/2026 An ambiguous Federal Reserve press conference might have juiced Wednesday's stock market sell-off. But it didn't impede the Nasdaq's 2.8% surge Thursday, the first day of its rally attempt. Strong earnings reports from Microsoft (MSFT) and chip-equipment giant Lam Research (LRCX) helped the jump. Now attention turns to AMD stock, which also rallied before earnings. Beyond The Megacaps: What To Watch In Eli Lilly, Sandisk, SpaceX Earnings IBD's Alexis Garcia and Ed Carson preview key upcoming earnings reports from Eli Lilly, Sandisk and SpaceX. 0 seconds of 34 minutes, 13 secondsVolume 0% Beyond The Megacaps: What To Watch In Eli Lilly, Sandisk, SpaceX Earnings See All Videos Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is among a small group of chip stocks set to report results in the coming week. It also includes Astera Labs (ALAB), which just pulled back 51% off its high. Astera's pullback comes amid explosive fundamentals and bright growth prospects - along with a lofty valuation. Astera currently sells at 51 times current sales, but revenue in the first quarter ended in March soared 93% to $308.4 million. And FactSet expects second-quarter revenue, due Tuesday after the close, to jump 88% to $360.6 million. Astera makes connectivity products that allow GPUs and accelerators to transfer data faster inside large data center servers. SpaceX (SPCX) is set to report Tuesday after the close as shares sit nearly 50% off the IPO high of 225. The company's first lockup expiration expires Thursday and just over 900 million shares will become available to sell. That will more than double the stock's float of nearly 650 million shares. Meanwhile, two more former leaders in the memory and storage group are also on the calendar. Results from Sandisk (SNDK) and Western Digital (WDC) are due Wednesday after the close. Group peer Seagate (STX) rallied for two days after releasing strong results on July 28, but was turned away at its 50-day moving average Thursday. Another lesser-known name in the group, Backblaze (BLZE), reports late Monday. The company, with a market capitalization of nearly $700 million, is definitely on the speculative side. But it does offer a compelling growth story though as a cloud storage platform. Full-year earnings are expected to surge 55% this year and 59% in 2027. AMD stock recovers. While several former leaders in the chip sector have corrected sharply off highs, Advanced Micro Devices has kept its pullback contained. While Intel (INTC) recently corrected 42% off its high, AMD's pullback was a bit shallower, at 27.5%. Business prospects have improved quite a bit in recent quarters for AMD. That's thanks to expanded commitments and AI infrastructure deals with major tech leaders like Microsoft, Anthropic and Meta Platforms (META). Earnings and revenue growth accelerated when AMD reported first-quarter results in early May, rising 43% and 38%, respectively. Data center revenue leaped 57% to a record $5.7 billion, making up 55% of total sales. When the company reports for its second quarter Tuesday after the close, adjusted profit is expected to pop 236% to $1.62 a share, with revenue up 47% to $11.3 billion. Leaderboard earnings. It's also a busy week of earnings for the Leaderboard model portfolio. Krystal Biotech (KRYS) reports Monday before the open. It recently joined the S&P MidCap 400 and is bouncing off its 10-week moving average for the first time after clearing a cup base in early May. Hinge Health (HNGE), which offers virtual physical therapy services, is set to report late Tuesday. Hinge is testing its 10-week line but hasn't bounced yet, like Krystal. Still, it's been a robust performer on the Leaders list since its addition in late May. Eli Lilly (LLY) lagged with several other big drugmakers Thursday ahead of its earnings due Wednesday before the open. The stock is also testing its 10-week line amid booming revenue growth in recent quarters. Its first-quarter results in late April showed that total revenue rose 56% to $19.8 billion. Mounjaro sales totaled $8.66 billion, up 125% year over year, while Zepbound sales rose 80% to $4.16 billion. Mounjaro is Lilly's Type 2 diabetes treatment that helps lower blood sugar and contains tirzepatide. Zepbound is the injectable prescription brand name for tirzepatide, Lilly's blockbuster weight-loss drug. In early April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Lilly's oral weight-loss medication Foundayo. The approval came about three months after rival Novo Nordisk (NVO) got the nod from the FDA to market an oral version of its own obesity treatment, Wegovy. Enterprise software. Meanwhile, as several stocks in the enterprise software group outperform, it makes sense to keep an eye on earnings reports from IBD 50 stocks Datadog (DDOG) and Cloudflare (NET). Datadog reports early Thursday and Cloudflare reports Thursday after the bell. Both stocks are showing uncanny relative strength ahead of the results. Group peers Shopify (SHOP), Twilio (TWLO), Atlassian (TEAM) and Palantir (PLTR) are also on the docket, but aren't performing nearly as well. Fintechs Dave (DAVE) and Sezzle (SEZL) are also showing relative strength, holding above their 10-week lines, with earnings right around the corner. Results from Dave are slated for late Wednesday. Results from buy-now-pay-later company Sezzle are set for late Thursday. Both companies were also in the IBD 50 as of Thursday. Outside of the enterprise software group, IBD Sector Leader Skyward Specialty Insurance (SKWD) was close to clearing a cup-with-handle base with earnings due late Tuesday. After a mild pullback, it's now testing its 21-day exponential moving average. Options trading strategy. A basic options trading strategy around earnings - using call options - allows investors to buy a stock at a predetermined price without taking a lot of risk. Investors put this to work during stock market uptrends. Traders should generally avoid this during stock market corrections. Here's how the option trading strategy works: First, investors should identify top-rated stocks with a bullish chart. Some might be setting up in sound early-stage bases. Others might have broken out already and are getting support at their 10-week moving average for the first time. A few also might be trading tightly near highs and are refusing to give up much ground. Avoid extended stocks that are too far past proper entry points. A call option equates to a bullish bet on a stock. Put options are bearish bets. Further, one call option contract gives the holder the right to buy 100 shares of a stock at a specified level, known as the strike price. The next step. Once you've identified a bullish setup in the earnings calendar, check strike prices with your online trading platform or at Cboe.com. Also, make sure the option remains liquid with a relatively tight spread between the bid and ask. Investors should look for a strike price just above the underlying stock price - that's out of the money - and check the premium. Ideally, the premium should not exceed 4% of the underlying stock price at the time. In some cases, an in-the-money strike price is OK as long as the premium isn't too expensive. IBD newsletters. Get exclusive IBD analysis and actionable news daily. It's best to choose an expiration date that fits a risk objective. But investors should be mindful that time is money in the options market. Near-term expiration dates will have cheaper premiums than those further out. Buying time in the options market comes at a higher cost. Also, keep in mind that implied volatility tends to rise before an earnings report. That can push up the cost of options. AMD stock option trade. When AMD traded around 487.25, a slightly out-of-the-money weekly call option with a 487.50 strike price and an Aug. 7 expiration came with a premium of $28.65 a share at the midpoint. That was 5.9% of the underlying stock price at the time and above the 4% risk threshold. One contract gave the holder the right to buy 100 AMD shares at 487.50 apiece. The maximum loss on a 100-share contract comes in at $2,865. Also, remember that AMD stock would need to rise to $516.15 for the trade to break even, factoring in the premium paid. The expected earnings-related move in the options market for AMD stock is about 57 points up or down. Traders can find this number by adding the call and put premiums for the at-the-money strike of 485 expiring Aug. 7. Follow Ken Shreve on X/Twitter @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight. YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: