10:56 AM EDT, 07/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Microsoft ( MSFT ) , Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon.com ( AMZN ) , Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ) and Meta Platforms ( META ) are among the expected standouts in this key Q2 tech earnings season, Wedbush analysts, led by Daniel Ives, said in a Sunday note to clients.

The standouts also include their "favorite cyber security names" Zscaler ( ZS ) , CrowdStrike Holdings ( CRWD ) , Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) , CyberArk Software ( CYBR ) , Check Point Software Technologies ( CHKP ) and Tenable Holdings ( TENB ) , the analysts said.

"Cloud deployments and enterprise artificial intelligence spending is tracking nicely ahead of Street expectations," which is favorable for big tech companies into this Q2 earnings season, the analysts said, citing global field checks.

The analysts said they see Q2 earnings as a "major positive catalyst" for the tech sector and expect tech stocks to rise another 15% for the year, adding to the strong gains in H1.

"Our myriad of field checks globally over the past month give us a high level of confidence that the AI revolution monetization has now begun to hit its next gear of growth as the baton has been handed from semis to the software phase with use cases exploding across the board," the analysts said.

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