Top 5 Companies To Watch in Q3 For Stock Market Traders

A record Nasdaq listing, a meme-fueled trading boom, and the largest corporate Bitcoin (BTC) holder selling its coins are set to define this quarter. These 5 companies across AI and crypto carry the stories investors will follow through September.

Each faces a key test this quarter, from debut earnings to defending market dominance. Here are the top 5 companies to watch.

1. SK Hynix (SKHY)

SK Hynix is South Korea’s second-most valuable company and the world’s leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. The company has emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI infrastructure boom, with demand for its advanced memory chips continuing to outpace supply. 

Last year, SK Hynix said its entire planned supply for 2026 had already been sold out, highlighting the strength of long-term AI demand. That momentum has helped propel its Seoul-listed shares by more than 180% year to date.

Last week, SK Hynix made its Wall Street debut. The company began trading on Nasdaq on Friday, pricing its shares at $149 to raise over $26 billion in the largest foreign listing ever on a US exchange. 

The ADRs debuted strongly, opening near $170, before closing their first session almost 13% higher.

Despite the strong fundamentals, volatility has also been a defining feature. The company’s Seoul-listed shares fell 15.4% in a single session today. 

How the stock trades through this quarter will be worth watching, especially after a notable decline following SpaceX’s record IPO.

Analysts remain firmly bullish. Goldman Sachs raised its 2028 operating profit forecasts for SK Hynix by 24% to 454 trillion won ($299.62 billion). 

Citi lifted its target to 3.1 million won in May, roughly 68% above the current price of 1.8 million won. Meanwhile, UBS told clients to buy the new US depositary receipts while selling the Seoul-traded stock.

2. SpaceX (SPCX)

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is an aerospace, connectivity, and artificial intelligence company, which absorbed xAI ahead of its market debut. The company went public in June with the biggest IPO on record.

SpaceX priced its shares at $135 and opened at $150 on June 12. The stock touched $225 in its first week before seeing a continuous drawdown.

The slide has persisted despite the Nasdaq-100’s inclusion, a milestone that attracts passive investment flows from index-tracking funds. On Friday, it closed at a record low of $145.30, down 9.7% from its debut closing price.

Even so, at least six major brokerages, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and UBS, have initiated coverage with buy-equivalent ratings, Bloomberg reported.

Attention now turns to the company’s first earnings report as a public company. SpaceX has not announced a date, though analysts expect it in early August.

Analysts are bullish but far apart. Morgan Stanley set a target at $300, roughly 106% above current levels, with a bull case of $600 and a bear case of $75. 

RBC and Banco BTG Pactual both set $225 targets, UBS sits at $210, Goldman Sachs at $205, and Stifel at $190. Even the lowest of those implies about 31% upside from Friday’s close.

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3. Robinhood (HOOD)

Robinhood grew from a retail trading app into a global brokerage with more than 27 million funded accounts. The company expanded its crypto business through the acquisition of Bitstamp and launched its own Layer-2, Robinhood Chain, in July.

The stock is down year to date amid a market downturn. Yet, it has gained significantly since May with a 51% rally.

Its DEX volumes and agentic AI push have also captured attention. Robinhood Chain DEX volume reached a record $893 million on July 11, per Dune data, driven by a renewed meme coin frenzy led by Cash Cat.

At the same time, the company is expanding its agentic AI trading from stocks into crypto. Prediction markets have become another growth engine. Event contracts traded on Robinhood jumped from 300 million in Q1 2025 to 8.8 billion in Q1 2026, according to Artemis.

Wall Street repriced the stock at notable speed this month. Mizuho raised its target on HOOD shares to $130 from $115 while maintaining an Outperform rating. 

Barclays lifted its target 48.8% to $122 from $82 and reiterated its Buy rating. Morgan Stanley also raised its target by 30.5% to $124 from $95.

4. Strategy (MSTR)

Strategy or MicroStrategy is the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, with 843,775 BTC purchased at an average price of $75,653. With Bitcoin below $63,000, the position sits deep underwater.

The company’s famous flywheel has reversed. Its market premium to net asset value has compressed below 1x, making new share sales dilutive. Meanwhile, MSTR, like the rest of the crypto stocks, is flashing red, down 37.7% so far in 2026.

Strategy sold 32 BTC in late May to fund preferred dividends, its first sale since a tax-related move in December 2022. The board then approved a Digital Credit Capital Framework on June 29, which authorizes the sale of up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin. Further larger sales followed in July.

Q2 earnings are scheduled for July 30. Investors will watch whether the company leans further into Bitcoin sales under its $1.25 billion authorization.

Analysts are split on the recovery path. Citi kept a Buy rating but cut its target to $136 from $260, nearly halving its forecast. Mizuho lowered its target to $213 from $340. At the same time, Barclays initiated coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $130 target.

5. Circle (CRCL)

Circle issues USDC (USDC), the second-largest stablecoin. The company went public last year, riding on favorable regulatory momentum and surging crypto prices.

Nonetheless, the crypto market drawdown has weighed on stock returns. BeInCrypto’s analysis revealed that Circle is trading lower from its $69 open. 

Measured against the $31 offer price, however, Circle is still up by more than 100%. This makes it one of only two recent debuts still trading above their offer prices.

Competition struck hard in late June when Stripe, Visa, and BlackRock launched a rival stablecoin called Open USD, crashing Circle shares 17% in a single day. The stock is now down 16.6% year to date.

However, Circle has secured major regulatory wins. The company received final approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank.

It also holds MiCA compliance for both USDC and its euro-denominated EURC, giving it licenses that its consortium rival lacks. Q2 earnings on August 12 offer the next test of whether that moat is holding.

Analysts hold the widest range of targets on this list. Goldman Sachs cut its target to $96 with a Neutral rating, roughly 47% above current levels. Bernstein reaffirmed its Outperform rating with a $190 target, while Clear Street called the selloff overdone.

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