Goldman Sachs says buy these stocks now, ahead of their earnings

Goldman Sachs identified Disney, UPS, Omnicom, Nu Holdings and Baker Hughes as buy opportunities ahead of upcoming Q3 earnings, citing potential positive catalysts and multi-year earnings expansion. Goldman projects Disney can deliver a 13% EPS CAGR despite the shares falling 10% year-to-date, while retaining a $140 price target. Baker Hughes, up 23% this year, was reinstated at Buy as Goldman expects Chart Industries acquisition synergies to support margin and revenue growth through 2030; Nu Holdings retained a Buy rating and $23 target based on potential U.S. consumer-credit expansion.

Analysis

The highest-quality near-term setup is UPS, where the relevant question is not revenue recovery but whether domestic yield and automation can demonstrate enough operating leverage to reset normalized margins. A cleaner network should also tighten competitive pressure on FDX: if UPS restores service/profitability without re-buying low-quality volume, the market may re-rate both carriers, but UPS has greater upside if consensus still embeds transition-era fixed-cost absorption. The key 1-3 month catalyst is evidence that package revenue per piece and adjusted operating margin improve simultaneously; a volume-led recovery without yield would weaken the thesis.

BKR's merger case is less about headline synergies than balance-sheet execution. Chart adds higher-growth LNG, hydrogen and industrial-process exposure, but the acquisition raises integration and deleveraging sensitivity precisely as energy-service multiples depend on sustained international spending. The more underappreciated beneficiary may be GTLS: retaining standalone exposure is no longer possible, so BKR becomes the liquid proxy for Chart's cryogenic-equipment end markets; that can support a premium only if management quantifies cross-selling, backlog conversion and debt paydown at the next results.

DIS requires differentiated segment evidence to earn a multiple expansion: Experiences investment can compound earnings, but incremental capex risks reducing FCF conversion before returns are visible. NU's U.S. credit initiative is strategically attractive but is not a near-term earnings catalyst; U.S. underwriting loss curves, funding costs and regulatory/compliance spend could make initial growth value-destructive. OMC is the cleaner event trade if media growth persists, although agency holding companies face structural AI-driven pricing pressure and client concentration risk over 6-18 months.

Consensus appears too willing to treat analyst targets as independent information. The BKR view carries a potential conflict because GS advised and financed the transaction, while all of these ideas need earnings validation rather than further narrative momentum. Favor setups with measurable inflections and avoid chasing pre-results strength where revised guidance, not reported beats, determines the rerating.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Initiate a 1-3 month long UPS / short FDX pair at roughly beta-neutral sizing ahead of the next earnings cycle. Target a 8-12% relative gain if UPS demonstrates domestic margin recovery; exit if UPS package yield deteriorates or adjusted domestic operating margin fails to improve sequentially.
• Accumulate BKR only on post-earnings confirmation of integration KPIs: quantified run-rate synergies, stable or rising backlog, and credible net-debt reduction. Use a 6-12 month horizon; cap downside with a stop on a material leverage-guidance increase or a sustained decline in international orders.
• Buy OMC ahead of its October results only if valuation remains near the stated depressed earnings multiple; use a 3-6 month horizon and target multiple normalization on organic-growth upside. Falsify on decelerating media growth, net client losses, or a cut to full-year organic-growth guidance.
• Keep NU on a watch list rather than adding aggressively before November: require disclosure on U.S. loan originations, delinquency/vintage performance, funding economics and customer-acquisition cost. A long becomes actionable only if early U.S. growth is funded without a material deterioration in credit costs or consolidated efficiency.
• For DIS, prefer a staged 6-18 month long rather than a pre-earnings chase. Add only if Experiences capex is accompanied by durable segment-margin and free-cash-flow guidance; reduce if investment spending rises while park pricing/attendance or direct-to-consumer profitability weakens.