5 Momentum Stocks to Buy for August Despite a Mixed July

Despite the headwinds, we have narrowed our search to five stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank that are expected to maintain their momentum in August, too. These are: Comfort Systems USA Inc. FIX, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, Vertiv Holdings Co. VRT, Seagate Technology Holdings plc STX and The Travelers Companies Inc. TRV.

Each of the stocks sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present and has a Zacks Momentum Score of A. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks in the past month.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Comfort Systems USA Inc.

Comfort Systems operates primarily in the commercial and industrial heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) markets. The data center boom, driven by AI, cloud computing, and high-performance computing, is fueling demand for specialized HVAC solutions from FIX. 

Cooling systems for these facilities should deliver precise and reliable performance, prompting investments in advanced technologies such as liquid cooling and modular units. This segment is becoming a significant growth driver for FIX, offering high-margin growth and attracting M&A activity. HVAC firms with capabilities in precision cooling and energy-efficient infrastructure are well-positioned to capture share in this fast-expanding niche. 

Comfort Systems highlighted continued strength in data center construction, while industrial customers remained the primary growth engine. Management expects faster same-store growth for 2026 and additional modular capacity by late summer 2027.

Backlog as of June 30, 2026, totaled $14.06 billion, increasing 12.9% from $12.45 billion at March 31, 2026, and jumping 73.2% from $8.12 billion reported a year ago. On a same-store basis, backlog climbed to $13.70 billion from $8.12 billion in the year-ago period. FIX guided 2026 same-store revenue growth in the mid- to high-30% range, alongside capital spending of about 5% of revenue.

For 2026, the Zacks Consensus Estimate currently shows revenues of $12.43 billion, suggesting an improvement of 36.6% year over year and earnings per share of $45.48, indicating an increase of 57.5% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 5.5% in the last seven days.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs’ second-quarter 2026 results benefited from strong revenue growth in Global Banking & Markets and Asset & Wealth Management. GS’ strong capital and liquidity position aids shareholder returns, including a recent 11% dividend hike post-clearing 2026 Fed stress. 

GS is prioritizing durable revenue streams, with improving deal activity and a strong investment banking backlog supporting advisory and fee-income growth. Its private credit expansion is expected to diversify revenue and drive long-term growth. 

Goldman Sachs has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 19.4% and 34.2%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.1% over the last seven days.

Vertiv Holdings Co.

Vertiv has been benefiting from demand for AI infrastructure, expanding data center complexity and continued investment in capacity and technology. Management emphasized that AI and general compute demand are driving larger and more infrastructure-intensive deployments. VRT’s power, cooling and services portfolio positions it to support next-generation data center expansion.

VRT is focused on evolving power architectures as AI workloads require greater density. The company is developing solutions supporting multiple architectures, including 800-volt DC systems, while continuing to serve traditional AC-based deployments.

Vertiv is working with NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) and VisionBay AI on AI data center deployments in Taiwan, including power, thermal and services solutions for NVIDIA GB300 systems. VRT said that these projects demonstrate demand for higher-density infrastructure.

Vertiv also emphasized thermal management capabilities, including liquid cooling and closed-loop cooling systems designed to reduce water usage in data center operations. Management said that these solutions expand its differentiation in long-term infrastructure services.

Vertiv has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 36.4% and 58.1%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 3.6% in the last seven days.

Seagate Technology Holdings plc

Seagate is benefiting from a shift in AI workloads from short-lived compute jobs to persistent data reuse. Inference, agentic applications, robotics and autonomous systems all create reasons to retain historical, video and sensor data. That supports a tiered storage model in which cost-efficient hard drives remain central.

STX’s AI workloads expand the need for persistent data. AI systems need context. In agentic applications, key-value cache data can be retained and reused across interactions, reducing the need to recompute information already generated. That dynamic is showing up in demand. 

Seagate’s Mozaic 4 platform can support drives of up to 44 terabytes and is ramping with the two largest global cloud service providers. Mozaic 5, a five-plus-terabyte-per-disk platform, is scheduled for qualification shipments in late calendar 2027. STX has also pointed to a 50-terabyte drive as the next step after Mozaic 4.

Seagate has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 52.8% and more than 100%, for the current year (ending June 2027). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 21.6% over the last seven days. 

The Travelers Companies Inc.

The Travelers combines broad commercial and personal insurance franchises with disciplined underwriting, rising investment income and sustained capital returns. Second-quarter 2026 results reinforced the durability of TRV’s earnings base, as underlying margins remained attractive.

Moreover, catastrophe losses declined and favorable reserve development supported results across all segments. Technology investment, pricing segmentation and a high-quality fixed-income portfolio should aid TRV’s long-term returns over time.

Travelers’ growing fixed-income portfolio provides an increasingly predictable earnings contribution. After-tax net investment income rose 14% to $883 million in the second quarter, reflecting TRV’s higher portfolio yields, growth in invested assets and better non-fixed income returns. New money yields were about 90 basis points above the portfolio’s embedded yield at quarter-end.

TRV expects its full-year 2026 underwriting expense ratio to be approximately 28.5%. Management also emphasized that strong earnings, cash flow and capital generation continue to support investments in technology, including artificial intelligence, while maintaining significant capital returns to its shareholders.

Travelers has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of -0.1% and 21.3%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 1.9% over the last seven days. 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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