Tracey Ryniec used MarketWatch on Episode #491 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast to point investors toward Ford Motor Co., Wayfair and Cisco ahead of second quarter earnings season. The episode aired from Chicago, IL, on July 13, 2026, with Ryniec going solo to walk through the three Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buy names.
The setup was simple enough: second quarter S&P 500 earnings were expected to rise 24% from a year earlier, while revenue growth was projected at 11.3%. That made the episode less about broad market chatter and more about which companies already had estimate momentum behind them before their reports landed.
Ford Motor Co. on July 28
Ford Motor Co. stood out because it was next on the calendar, with its second quarter 2026 earnings report set for July 28, 2026. Shares were up 3.7% year-to-date even though earnings were expected to jump 50.5% in 2026, and one estimate for the second quarter had been raised in the last 60 days.
Ryniec also pointed to Ford's valuation and income profile. The stock traded at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 8.2 and paid a dividend yielding 4.4%, a combination that put the company on the short list for readers looking at earnings-season setups rather than waiting for the report itself.
Wayfair and Cisco estimates
Wayfair entered the discussion with a different profile. It operated three physical stores and had announced five more, while two estimates had been lifted in the last 60 days for 2026. Earnings were expected to rise 11.9% in 2026 and another 29.6% in 2027, even after shares were down 10.1% year-to-date.
Cisco brought the clearest estimate trend of the three. Nine estimates had been raised on Cisco for fiscal 2026 in the last 60 days, and nine were also higher for fiscal 2027. Earnings were expected to rise 12.3% year-over-year in fiscal 2026 and then jump another 11.3% in fiscal 2027, with shares already up 53.6% in 2026.
The episode's value was in the comparison: Ford offered the soonest report and the deepest earnings growth forecast, Wayfair showed a business model still adding stores, and Cisco carried the strongest estimate breadth. For investors screening ahead of earnings, the practical use was not to buy every Strong Buy name, but to focus on the ones where rankings, estimate revisions and timing were already lining up.
