Microsoft and Shopify Lead the AI Stocks Wall Street Is Watching This Earnings Season

Earnings season is starting, and investors are looking for technology companies that could beat expectations. A recent market feature highlights five AI-linked stocks that Wall Street analysts favor heading into the reporting period, with Microsoft and Shopify among them.

The logic behind these picks is familiar. When a stock already carries high expectations, the surprise usually comes from results that clear what analysts forecast, whether that is revenue growth, profit margins, or guidance for the quarters ahead. For AI-exposed companies, the question is increasingly whether heavy spending on AI infrastructure and products is turning into paying customers and sales, rather than sitting on the balance sheet as cost.

Microsoft has been at the center of that debate for some time, given how much of its cloud platform and software lineup now depends on AI tools. Shopify operates in a different part of the market, providing software for online merchants, but it is also being tracked for how it builds AI features into its platform and whether those features encourage merchants to use and pay for more of its services.

It is worth keeping perspective. Being called a favorite before earnings is an informed opinion about likely outcomes, not a promise. Shares can still fall after a solid quarter if guidance disappoints or if the bar was already set very high. Investors considering any of these names should weigh the calls against their own goals and tolerance for risk.

The coming weeks will offer a clearer test. Reports from these companies should show whether the enthusiasm around AI is appearing in the numbers, and whether the bullish case holds up once the results are on the table.