U.S. SMID FIRST TO MARKET

Research evidence excerpt

U.S. SMID FIRST TO MARKET

North America Equity Research

U.S. SMID 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.

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.

Init | Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (Priyanka Grover, Ph.D.) (RYTM, OW, PT $145.00)

Initiating Overweight – Next Generation Pipeline Could Strengthen Intellectual Property of MC4R

Franchise

We are initiating coverage of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (RYTM) with an OW rating and a Dec-27 price target of $145.

Our OW thesis centers on Rhythm’s opportunity to grow Imcivree (setmelanotide) from a rare genetic obesity franchise into a

more durable MC4R-pathway rare disease platform, driven by the newly launched acquired hypothalamic obesity (HO)

indication (WW peak sales ~$2.1B), where there is a significant unmet need.