U.S. FIRST TO MARKET

Research evidence excerpt

U.S. FIRST TO MARKET

North America Equity Research

U.S. First to Market 27 July 2026

Top Stories

Global Data Watch (Bruce Kasman)

The speed of the sound of silence

• Growth momentum builds as geopolitical drags reemerge

• Risk management warrants a hawkish shift from central banks

• Asia growth broadens, China fiscal ease from early delivery

• Next week: US real PCE (0.4%); Fed, BoE, BoJ hawkish hold

US Tactical Derivatives Strategy (Bram Kaplan, CFA/Arda Sebuktekin/Bryan M. Smilek/Joseph Cardoso)

Earnings Trades: GLW Downside Risk, SHOP Beat-and-Raise

Strategy: We recommend buying August 1x2 put spreads into Corning’s (GLW) earnings tomorrow. Our Tech Hardware

analysts (Joe Cardoso and team) have placed the stock on negative catalyst watch given elevated expectations going into the

print.

Fortinet (Brian Essex, CFA) (FTNT, UW, PT $100.00)

Preview: Refresh Pull Forward at the Expense of Growth Next Year

Fortinet is scheduled to report earnings on Wednesday, July 29 th after market close .

Threat-driven refresh pull-forward is driving strong product growth this Q, but Street seems to be mis-modeling FY27. As one

GSI commented this quarter, CIOs are ‘freaking out’ with a greater level of urgency about an elevated threat environment

following the release of Mythos, GPT 5.5, and (recently) Chinese foundation models that are catching up to their U.S. peers.

AFL | Off-Price Retail (Matthew R. Boss, CPA)

2Q “At Least” In-Line w/ 3Q Opportunity to Own; Fieldwork & Access Takes

Following our recent fieldwork & management access – we thought helpful to share our key takeaways, recent fieldwork &

model implications across the Big 3 Off-Pricers (TJX, ROST, and BURL) and establish our December ’27 price targets across

the board.