US stocks to buy for short term: US stock markets are at record highs largely due to healthy Q1 earnings and AI trade. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite ended at new highs last Friday.
On Monday, the US market may remain volatile as crude oil prices have rebounded after President Donald Trump said Iran’s response to a US proposal to end the Middle East conflict was “totally unacceptable.”
“Q1 2026 earnings delivered one of the strongest corporate performances in five years. With more than 89% of the S&P 500 having reported, 84% of companies beat estimates at an average beat magnitude of 18.22%, nearly three times the historical norm. Blended earnings growth stands at 27.7%, the best since Q4 2021,” said Subho Moulik, Founder and CEO, Appreciate.
Moulik highlighted that aemiconductors and hardware are up 30-82%, while software and consulting names are down 15-35%.
“The companies spending $700 billion on AI infrastructure are losing ground in the market. The companies supplying the physical backbone of that buildout are leading it,” said Moulik.
“This week’s five names come from that infrastructure layer, plus the two Mag-7 names that have clearly separated from the rest,” Moulik said.
Stock picks for the short term
Subho Moulik says investors may consider buying these five stocks for the next 1-2 weeks:
Alphabet
Within the “magnificent-7” that has collectively underperformed the broader index in 2026, Alphabet is the exception.
“It is up 23% year-to-date. Microsoft is down 14.5%. The gap is not narrow. Alphabet’s Q1 2026 results, released after the bell on April 29, beat estimates on both earnings and revenue and produced a 10% single-session gain,” Moulik said.
“Google Cloud grew 63% to $20 billion in Q1, its fastest growth rate on record. Search revenue grew 19%. Among the Mag-7, it is the only name where the AI investment is visibly converting into accelerating revenue across both cloud and advertising, at the same time,” said Moulik.
Amazon
Moulik highlighted that AWS grew 28% year-on-year to $37.59 billion in Q1 2026, its fastest pace in over three years.
“Amazon’s Q1 EPS of $2.78 came in against a consensus of $1.64. Advertising revenue jumped 24%. Q2 revenue guidance of $194-199 billion came in well above the $188.9 billion Wall Street had pencilled in,” Moulik said.
“Amazon has committed $200 billion in capital expenditure for 2026, which creates near-term free cash flow pressure, but AWS acceleration signals that the infrastructure being built is already finding demand at scale. The cloud platform that needed AI has become the infrastructure AI runs on,” said Moulik.
Broadcom
Moulik said that the $700 billion AI capital expenditure cycle of 2026 is not an Nvidia story alone.
He highlighted that Broadcom’s custom silicon now runs inside five of the world’s largest AI platforms alongside Nvidia GPUs.
“At hyperscaler volumes, the economics of purpose-built chips are not a preference. They are a cost imperative,” said Moulik.
“Broadcom’s AI revenue hit $8.4 billion last quarter, up 106% year-on-year. The company holds a signed backlog of $73 billion covering roughly 18 months of forward deliveries. AI now accounts for 44% of Broadcom’s total revenue. Three years ago (FY2023), it was approximately 11%,” said Moulik.
GE Vernova
Moulik pointed out that a single Nvidia Blackwell GPU rack consumes up to 120 kilowatts. At the scale of a $700 billion data centre buildout, power demand stops being a technology problem and becomes a grid infrastructure problem.
“GE Vernova makes the equipment that feeds that grid. In Q1 2026, it booked $18.3 billion in orders, up 71% year-on-year, and carries a backlog of $163 billion,” said Moulik.
“US data centre electricity consumption is projected to reach 426 terawatt-hours by 2030, up 133% from today. GEV’s order book grew faster last quarter than its revenue did. That gap is the backlog building. The contracted revenue has not been shipped yet,” Moulik said.
Vertiv Holdings
Moulik highlighted that Vertiv’s Q4 2025 organic orders grew 252% year-on-year, the strongest order quarter in the company’s history.
The company builds the cooling and power distribution systems that keep GPU clusters running at scale.
“Its backlog stands at $15 billion, up 109% year-on-year. On its Q1 2026 earnings print, it raised full-year EPS guidance to $6.35, up 51% from 2025. Every dollar of AI infrastructure capital that flows into a data centre creates a thermal management obligation,” said Moulik.
“Vertiv’s backlog and guidance revision are the evidence that this obligation has converted into committed, deliverable contracts,” Moulik said.
Read more stories by Nishant Kumar
Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. The views and recommendations expressed are those of the expert, not Mint. We advise investors to consult with certified experts before making any investment decisions, as market conditions can change rapidly and circumstances may vary.
