5 Tech Stocks Holding Their Ground Through the AI Trade Pullback

The $15 Gold Fund That Pays Up to $1,152/Month (From Investors Alley)

The AI trade hit a rough patch in late July, with chip and AI-infrastructure names leading the Nasdaq toward correction territory. Semiconductor and memory stocks bore the brunt of the selling, as investors questioned whether near-term returns can justify the scale of AI capital spending. Enterprise technology, be it hardware or software, has not been immune to the pressure, but not every name has cracked under it. A handful of stocks tied to data, storage, networking, and hybrid IT infrastructure have held their footing better than the broader tech tape, with some trading within striking distance of new highs even as sentiment sours elsewhere.

Five stocks in particular all fall into that group. Each has its own story, from analyst upgrades to earnings-driven pauses to a top-ranked spot within MarketBeat's own scoring system. Still, all five have shown impressive technical resilience and notable relative strength.

Datadog: Riding an Upgrade Wave Toward New Highs

Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG) shares jumped almost 8% in a week after a wave of price target increases from Wall Street analysts, a move that stood out against a backdrop of broader tech weakness. The cloud monitoring and observability company closed last week at $267.97, close to its 52-week and all-time high of $278.76. The stock has climbed about 100% year to date, a run that has pushed its market capitalization to nearly $100 billion.

The stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating from 46 analysts, with an average price target of $268.61. Now, the stock trades at a steep valuation relative to earnings. With a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio above 700, the bull case here leans heavily on continued acceleration in AI-driven demand for its platform rather than on traditional value metrics.

MarketBeat's MarketRank places Datadog in the 75th percentile among all companies it evaluates, a solid but not exceptional score weighed down somewhat by recent insider selling from company directors. Datadog is scheduled to report earnings on Aug. 6, and that print will likely decide whether the recent strength translates into a fierce momentum breakout. After months of sideways action, participants will want to see the stock convincingly clear resistance and hold above $280.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise: The Top-Ranked Name on This List

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) boasts an elite MarketRank among technology stocks, landing in the 100th percentile and ranking 4th out of 593 names in the sector. That is a notable standing for a stock that is up roughly 100% year to date.

While the stock has pulled back significantly from its earnings-driven 52-week high, it’s spent close to two months consolidating above its key moving averages.

That’s a bullish formation that has kept its higher-timeframe trend intact. Similar to DDOG, if HPE pushes above $50, a breakout and resumption of its uptrend could be confirmed.

Wall Street rates HPE a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $67.31, implying meaningful upside of more than 40% from current levels. The company's forward P/E of 17 looks far more reasonable than that of some of its AI-adjacent peers, and its 1.2% dividend yield adds a small income component that most of the names on this list don't offer. HPE's next earnings report is expected on Sept. 2.

Dell Technologies: 2026's Biggest Winner Cools Off

Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) has been one of 2026's standout large-cap technology performers, with shares up nearly 220% year to date. That run has lifted the company's market cap to nearly $261 billion. While several large-cap, growth-focused technology leaders have seen their values cut drastically during the recent correction, DELL has spent several months holding above key moving averages, forming a textbook bullish consolidation. That notable strength positions the stock as a potential leader should the market recover and DELL take out resistance near $450.

The stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating from 32 analysts, with an average price target of $494.67, implying roughly 23% upside from recent levels. Dell's forward P/E of 23 is a meaningful discount to its trailing multiple of 32, reflecting expectations for continued earnings growth as server and AI-infrastructure demand works through the business.

Dell also ranks 10th out of 595 technology stocks on MarketBeat's MarketRank system, with a 99th-percentile score driven by strong marks in analyst sentiment, earnings, and valuation. The company's next earnings date is estimated for Sept. 3.

NetApp: Trending Toward Its All-Time High

Of the five names in this piece, NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) may be showing the clearest technical resilience, as shares have begun trending higher toward its 52-week high. The stock closed at $178.50 on July 31, sitting less than 7% below its 52-week high. After making that high post-earnings at the end of June, the stock has spent almost two months digesting its earnings gap, consolidating well and holding up better than the rest of the market.

With the stock taking out short-term resistance near $177 last week, the next key area of potential resistance and supply is $190, near its all-time and 52-week high. That level, of course, now becomes the potential breakout and inflection point for the stock.

Analysts are more measured here than on the other four names, with a Hold consensus rating and an average price target of $169.33, which sits below the current share price. Still, sentiment has been improving. Goldman Sachs reaffirmed its Buy rating and $200 price target in June, noting the strength of NetApp's AI-driven storage capabilities in supporting agentic workloads. The stock is up about 67% year-to-date and has a MarketRank in the 85th percentile among technology companies. Its next earnings report, which could represent a major catalyst, is estimated for Sept. 2.

Cisco Systems: Size and Income

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), the global technology company specializing in networking hardware and software, is enjoying a stellar year of outperformance. Shares are up close to 50% on the year, helped mainly by a significant Q3 2026 beat. Following its May results, the stock rallied nearly 30% to 52-week highs, driven by massive AI infrastructure orders and a significant upward revision to its full-year AI forecast.

Since that June peak, however, shares have retraced nearly 10% from their 52-week high. But like many of the names mentioned above, CSCO has done a great job of digesting its upward extension post-earnings and maintaining its bullish positioning above several key moving averages. As a result, the stock is now consolidating in a tight flat, with $120 acting as a major momentum breakout level.

Cisco's almost $460 billion market cap makes it the largest company in this group by a wide margin, and it carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average price target of $123.14.

Its 1.5% dividend yield and strong dividend rating from MarketBeat set it apart from the other four names, none of which offer the same combination of size and income.

The stock also ranks 82nd out of 595 technology names according to the MarketRank system, corresponding to a 92nd-percentile score. Cisco is due to report its Q4 2026 earnings on Aug. 12.

What to Watch From Here

Taken together, these five stocks show that the AI trade sell-off has not hit every corner of enterprise technology evenly. Datadog and NetApp are trading closest to their recent highs; HPE carries the highest MarketRank in the group; Dell has posted the largest year-to-date gain; and Cisco offers a blend of income and relative strength.

Every one of the five also carries a Moderate Buy or better analyst consensus, with the lone exception of NetApp's Hold rating, suggesting Wall Street sees more room to run even after the run these stocks have already had in 2026.

All five report earnings within about six weeks of each other, from Datadog's Aug. 6 date through Dell's estimated Sept. 3 report, giving investors a compressed window to see whether this resilience holds up against actual results rather than just favorable price action. With the broader AI trade still working through a correction, how these companies perform against expectations could set the tone for enterprise tech names heading into the fall.

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