The second quarter of 2026 is expected to have extended the artificial intelligence buildout that has become the defining catalyst for Internet stocks, with monetization trends, cloud demand and agentic commerce infrastructure likely driving sentiment more than any single quarter's headline numbers. Hyperscalers entered the quarter with aggressive spending commitments already firmly in place, setting up an environment where the real test was whether that enormous spending was translating into durable, visible revenue growth.
Drawing on our proprietary research and market insight, we’ve identified four Internet stocks — Block XYZ, Unity Software U, Amazon AMZN and Arista Networks ANET — that appear well-positioned to beat earnings estimates this season.
AI Capex and Cloud Momentum
Combined 2026 capital expenditure plans from Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft stood at roughly $720-$725 billion, up sharply from the prior year, and were expected to keep flowing into the second quarter as demand for compute continued outpacing supply. Alphabet's $180-$190 billion full-year capex outlook, tied to accelerating Google Cloud demand, is expected to have supported continued double-digit cloud growth through the quarter. Microsoft's Azure momentum and a rapidly expanding annualized AI revenue run rate were likewise expected to carry into the second quarter, alongside a $625 billion commercial bookings backlog signaling durable enterprise AI commitments. Amazon Web Services, coming off its fastest growth in 15 quarters, was projected to keep accelerating on rising Bedrock adoption and a swelling order backlog. Meta's widened $125-$145 billion capex guidance and the newly debuted Muse Spark foundation model pointed to a consumer AI push expected to intensify through the quarter, even as Reality Labs losses continued to weigh on margins.
Digital Advertising and Agentic Commerce
Advertising is expected to have remained the sector's most dependable growth driver in the second quarter, with Gemini integrations across Search continuing to lift ad conversion and Amazon's Rufus AI shopping prompts and connected TV inventory projected to sustain double-digit advertising growth. A newer theme is expected to have gained real traction as the quarter progressed: agentic commerce. Google's AI Mode, already reaching roughly one billion monthly users, and its Universal Commerce Protocol, drawing participation from Shopify, Etsy, Walmart, Visa and Stripe, positioned AI assistants to begin transacting directly with merchants. Analysts increasingly framed agentic shopping as a large multi-trillion-dollar opportunity by 2030, a trend expected to gather momentum through the second quarter and beyond.
Sentiment entering the quarter is expected to stay selective, rewarding strong cloud results while penalizing heavy infrastructure spending without matching revenue proof. A reported delay to Alphabet's Gemini 3.5 Pro model briefly unsettled sentiment during the quarter and drew securities-law scrutiny, underscoring how closely investors were tracking AI model execution alongside spending. Even so, steadily expanding enterprise cloud backlogs, accelerating ad yields and steady consumer engagement are expected to keep the broader narrative constructive as the quarter progressed toward actual second-quarter earnings, due from Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon across late July.
Taken together, the second quarter suggested the Internet sector is moving past the "is AI real" debate into a phase focused on monetization discipline and agentic commerce infrastructure. With advertising resilient and AI-native shopping scaling toward mainstream adoption, Internet stocks appear positioned to sustain momentum into third-quarter earnings, provided the industry's infrastructure bet keeps converting into durable revenue growth.
How to Make the Right Pick?
With the presence of several industry participants, finding the right software stocks with the potential to beat on earnings can be daunting. Our proprietary methodology, however, makes this task fairly simple.
You could narrow down your choices by looking at stocks that have the perfect combination of two key elements — a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Earnings ESP is our proprietary methodology for determining stocks that have the maximum chances of beating estimates in their next earnings announcement. It is the percentage difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Our research shows that for stocks with this favorable mix of ingredients, the odds of a positive earnings surprise are as high as 70%.
Best Bets
Given below are four Internet stocks that have the favorable combination to beat on earnings this reporting cycle:
Block is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 5. Management guided to roughly $3.04 billion in gross profit, $740 million in adjusted operating income, and 86 cents adjusted EPS, alongside a raised full-year outlook reflecting broadening momentum across Cash App and Square. In April, Block expanded its global Uber partnership, extending Square's native Uber Eats integration internationally while launching Cash App Pay across Uber platforms in the United States, widening merchant and consumer reach. Through May and June, AI tools including MoneyBot and ManagerBot scaled toward full seller rollout, while Square Financial Services introduced high-yield savings for sellers. New commerce wins with Sherwin-Williams, Sofive and Ladurée Canada further validate Square's platform, reinforcing durable, multi-pronged ecosystem expansion heading into the quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter earnings has remained steady at 86 cents per share in the past 30 days. The company currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.23% and sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Block, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Block, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Block, Inc. Quote
Unity Software is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 6. Unity Software's growth path into the second quarter looks encouraging, anchored in a reshaped, higher-margin business. April's extended multi-year partnership with Meta strengthens Unity Software's grip on VR development tools, while the planned sunset of the ironSource Ads Network signals continued portfolio discipline. May brought Bernard Kim's board appointment, adding gaming-platform leadership experience, alongside management's guidance for strategic revenue growth of 29-32% year over year, with Strategic Grow accelerating 50-52% on Vector's momentum. Management targets Vector exiting 2026 at an annualized run rate above $1 billion. June's rollout of direct-to-consumer capabilities within Unity IAP broadens developer monetization options. With cash reserves of $2.15 billion and disciplined spending, these developments support management's outlook for GAAP profitability by year-end, underscoring continued positive momentum heading into the quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter earnings has remained steady at 24 cents per share in the past 30 days. The company currently has an Earnings ESP of +2.74% and sports a Zacks Rank #1.
Unity Software Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Unity Software Inc. price-eps-surprise | Unity Software Inc. Quote
Amazon is set to report second-quarter 2026 results on July 30. The company’s second-quarter momentum is likely to have been shaped by an expanding artificial-intelligence and retail ecosystem. AWS entered the quarter carrying strong customer demand for Trainium chips, reinforced by Anthropic's April commitment to secure up to five gigawatts of current and future generations of Trainium capacity, alongside expanded NVIDIA GPU deployments and a Cerebras inference collaboration. In May, the company unified Rufus and Alexa+ into Alexa for Shopping, extending agentic commerce across its U.S. customer base without requiring Prime membership. June brought Prime Day across 26 countries, with record same-day and next-day delivery speeds, plus AWS' "What's Next" event introducing Amazon Quick and Bedrock Managed Agents built with OpenAI. Together, these developments point to broadening cloud, AI and retail engagement supporting continued growth.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter earnings has remained steady at $1.82 per share in the past 30 days. The company currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.16% and a Zacks Rank #2.
Amazon.com, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Amazon.com, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Amazon.com, Inc. Quote
Arista Networks is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 4. The company is expected to have benefited from broadening structural demand for AI networking infrastructure. Management guided second-quarter revenues to approximately $2.8 billion, with a non-GAAP operating margin of 46-47% and non-GAAP EPS near 88 cents, signaling sustained momentum into the AI supersystem era. In May, the company raised its full-year 2026 revenue outlook to $11.5 billion and lifted its AI networking target to $3.5 billion, reflecting confidence in widening hyperscaler and enterprise adoption. April's investor engagement calendar reinforced visibility into this expanding pipeline. In June, Arista unveiled the 7060XE7 Series, extending its Etherlink portfolio with 1.6-terabit platforms built for rack-scale AI fabrics. Alongside a 2026 Net Promoter Score of 89, these developments support a constructive outlook for continued AI-led networking expansion.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has moved north by 1.1% to 89 cents per share in the past 30 days. The company currently has an Earnings ESP of +3.08% and a Zacks Rank #2.
Arista Networks, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Arista Networks, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Arista Networks, Inc. Quote
Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is Here
The AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.
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