In this article, we’ll look at the 10 Best Emerging Markets Stocks to Buy Right Now.
Emerging-market stocks, which have climbed to record highs, show no signs of slowing. The rally is being driven by growing optimism about artificial intelligence and by investors continuing to pour money into developing economies.
The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF is already up by more than 10% year to date, outperforming the S&P 500, which is flat over the same period. The impressive year to date gains comes on the heels of emerging market stocks rallying by about 30% in dollar terms in 2025. Much of this strength was driven by strong gains in Asian markets like Taiwan and South Korea as the region benefited from high demand for AI-related hardware and solutions.
“EM equities are a weak dollar story along with rotation out of crowded US tech – especially mega-cap tech,” said Billy Leung, an investment strategist at Global X Management. “We are seeing global flows rotate into other regions and sectors with Asia tech and semi supply chains benefiting from AI capex expectations.”
According to Goldman Strategists, strong earnings across regions and favorable macroeconomic trends are among the tailwinds that should push emerging market stocks higher in 2026. Resilience of Chinese exports, a weakening US dollar, and economic benefits of falling commodity prices should also support the rally. The investment bank expects the MSCI Emerging Markets index to return nearly 30% in 2026.
“Looking ahead, the performance obviously sets a very high bar to replicate,” Trivedi says. “But some of the tailwinds present in 2025 are going to repeat in 2026, so we still expect good returns after a great 2025.” says Kamakshya Trivedi, chief foreign exchange and emerging markets strategist at Goldman Sachs.
Amid the expected bulk of returns in emerging markets, let’s take a look at some of the best stocks to buy now.
Our Methodology
To come up with the 10 best emerging markets stocks to buy now, we used the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF and Yahoo Finance stock screeners to identify companies based in different emerging markets. We picked stocks with positive upside potential as of February 17. We then used Insider Monkey’s Q3 2025 Hedge Fund database to rank the stocks according to the largest number of hedge fund holders.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research shows we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 427.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 264 percentage points (see more details here).
Best Emerging Markets Stocks to Buy Right Now
10. ZTO Express (NYSE:ZTO)
Stock Upside Potential: 6.65%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 12
ZTO Express (NYSE:ZTO) is one of the best emerging markets stocks to buy right now. On February 9, Macquarie analyst Ellie Jiang upgraded ZTO Express (NYSE:ZTO) to an Outperform from a Neutral and raised the price target to $26.60 from $18.40.
The analyst upgraded the stock, impressed by the company’s signal of preliminary fourth-quarter volume growth of 9%, which topped the industry’s 5%. In addition, the company indicated revenue growth of 8% to 19% and a gross profit margin of 23% to 28%. The analyst expects the company to capture shifting customer pricing preferences owing to its high-quality yet affordable value proposition.
The research firm expects the company’s total parcel volume growth to be 8%, topping the industry’s 7%. It also expects the company to benefit from an improving average selling price, driven by industry pricing recovery.
Earlier, on February 4, ZTO Express announced the pricing of $1.5 billion in convertible senior notes due 2031. The company plans to use up to $1 billion in net proceeds from the offering to fund share repurchases of Class A ordinary shares. The remaining $500 million is to fund concurrent share repurchases and for general corporate purposes.
ZTO Express (NYSE:ZTO) is a leading Chinese express delivery company that functions as a major, high-volume, low-cost logistics provider for e-commerce, delivering billions of parcels annually through a nationwide network.
9. Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE:BAP)
Stock Upside Potential: 6.88%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 32
Credicorp Ltd (NYSE:BAP) is one of the best emerging markets stocks to buy right now. On February 12, Credicorp Ltd (NYSE:BAP) delivered fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results. Fourth quarter net profit totaled $468.8 million, translating to earnings per share of $5.88.
The company generated $2.18 billion in revenue, which dropped to $1.8 billion on accounting for interest expenses. Total profit for the full year totaled $1.94 billion, or $24.35 per share, with revenue of $6.55 billion.
The strong financial results came on loan growth being propelled by strong retail momentum at BCP, as the company also targets double-digit growth in core segments. The company’s focus remains on scaling and monetizing its digital ecosystem. Credicorp management is projecting loan growth of 8.5%, with net interest margin expected to remain stable in the mid-to-high 6% range.
“We closed 2025 on a very solid footing, entering the new year in a stronger position than we did at the end of 2024,” said Gianfranco Ferrari, CEO. “Our focus remains on three priorities: scale and monetize our digital ecosystem, expanding inclusion, and accelerating new revenue streams,” Ferrari added.
Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE:BAP) is the largest financial holding company in Peru, offering a comprehensive suite of financial services across Latin America, with a primary focus on universal banking, insurance, and pensions.
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