In this article, we will look at the 10 Best Stocks to Buy While the Market Is Down.
The market has started to tick higher on positive news regarding a potential deal in the US-Iran war. Over the past 5 days, the major indexes, including the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and the NASDAQ, all posted positive gains.
On April 18, Katerina Simonetti from Morgan Stanley appeared on a CNBC Television interview to discuss her firm’s view of the current market situation. She noted that the markets have recently moved higher on positive news, but this does not mean that it is out of the woods.
Despite the uncertainty, Simonetti believes that this is still a bull market and that pullbacks are good buying opportunities. She noted that her firm is advising clients not to wait too long to bring some risk back into their portfolios, as it views the market downturns as healthy corrections in the bull market.
She elaborated that although the valuations have gone down, the earnings continue to go up, and the expectations are also encouraging. Simonetti noted that this suggests that as the good news regarding any deal within the war appears, the comeback will be quick and robust.
With that, let’s take a look at potential stocks that you can buy to reap maximum benefit from the market comeback. Here’s our list of 10 Best Stocks to Buy While the Market Is Down.
Our Methodology
To curate the list of 10 Best Stocks to Buy While the Market Is Down, we used Quality Factor ETFs, reputable financial media, and Reddit as our primary sources. Using these sources, we shortlisted stocks that are recognized as high quality and for which analysts expect more than 25% upside over the next 12 months. We limited our final selection to companies that have recently reported noteworthy developments likely to impact investor sentiment. These stocks are also popular among analysts and elite hedge funds.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that 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 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).
10 Best Stocks to Buy While the Market Is Down
10. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)
Analyst Upside Potential: 32.63%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 68
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy While the Market Is Down.
On April 20, Guggenheim maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of $270. The firm argues that the market is underestimating the growth potential of ADP, particularly its enterprise human capital management tool Lyric. Guggenheim noted that industry experts and consumer checks show how ADP Lyric performs well in complex payroll environments such as healthcare.
Moreover, Lyric also works well when deployed as a payroll and compliance layer alongside existing human capital management tools such as Workday and SAP. The firm noted that this “co‑existence” model lets the company serve complex workforce segments it otherwise might not reach. The analyst notes that this “buying motion” broadens ADP’s total addressable market because Lyric can land deals without dislodging the entire legacy human capital management stack.
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) set to release its fiscal Q3 2026 earnings on April 29. Wall Street expects the quarterly revenue around $5.85 billion along with a GAAP EPS estimate of $3.30. The company provides cloud-based human capital management solutions globally.
9. Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)
Analyst Upside Potential: 26.49%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71
Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy While the Market Is Down.
The Street is bullish on Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) as 70% of the 30 analysts covering the stock have a Buy rating. Moreover, the average 12-month price target suggests more than 26% upside from the current level.
Recently, on April 20, the company at Hannover Messe 2026 in Germany announced its partnership with Avanade and Microsoft to develop an agentic factory intelligence system. This system can potentially transform manufacturing by enabling AI agents to collaborate with human workers, machines, and data for faster issue resolution on factory floors.
The company noted Kruger and Nissha Metallizing Solutions as early adopters of the agentic factory intelligence system. These companies are validating the concept of agentic factories ahead of its general launch later this year.
Management noted that the factories are built upon the Factory Agents and Analytics platform of Accenture and Avanade. The system is be powered by Microsoft Azure, Fabric, Foundry, and Copilot.
Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is a global leader in consulting, technology, and outsourcing services, offering a wide range of solutions across industries.
8. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG)
Analyst Upside Potential: 22.80%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 77
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy While the Market Is Down.
The Street has a bullish sentiment on Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) as 67% of the 42 analysts covering the stock have a Buy rating on the stock. Moreover, the average 12-month price target on the stock suggests more than 22% upside from the current level.
Recently, on April 17, RBC Capital lowered the firm’s price target on the stock from $50 to $45, while maintaining a Buy rating on the shares. The rating comes ahead of the company’s FQ1 2026 earnings, expected to be released on April 29. RBC expects the same-store sales to beat the consensus estimates slightly. The optimism for the sales beat is based on an easier year-over-year comparison as consumer traffic declined in February 2025.
Moreover, the firm expects the company to reiterate flat same-store-sales guidance for fiscal 2026, mainly due to macroeconomic uncertainties from consumer spending pressures. However, RBC sees room for improvement as the conditions get better later in the year.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) is a global fast-casual restaurant chain known for customizable burritos, tacos, bowls, and salads, emphasizing high-quality, responsibly sourced ingredients and classic cooking methods, operating over 3,900 locations by late 2025.
7. Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)
Analyst Upside Potential: 26.82%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 91
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy While the Market Is Down.
On April 20, Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) announced major upgrades to Adobe GenStudio, which is the company’s AI platform for content creation. Management noted that they are building an agentic content supply chain, which will automate assembly lines from planning to delivering content across various channels.
The company also highlighted that this also addresses key pain points, including manual reviews and siloed workflows for more than 20,000 brands using Adobe’s tools. Some of the key new features include Adobe brand intelligence, agentic workflow tools, creative production automation, and more. One of the main features includes a workflow optimization agent that automates planning, reviews, and insights. It treats the agent as a team member who can be assigned tasks.
That said, earlier on April 17, Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) was maintained with an Outperform rating at RBC Capital. However, the firm reduced the price target from $400 to $350. The rating came before the Adobe Summit event, where the major GenStudio updates were announced.
The firm was already expecting the company to make new product announcements featuring end-to-end workflows. RBC noted that the company needs to accelerate its annual recurring revenue for improved investor sentiment.
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) provides software and services for digital content creation and marketing.
6. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)
Analyst Upside Potential: 38.08%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 137
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy While the Market Is Down.
On April 20, Reuters reported that Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is buying Kelonia Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $7 billion. The deal is aimed at expanding the company’s oncology offerings and also diversifying the company beyond its dominant weight-loss drugs amid rising competition.
According to the report, the deal is expected to close in the second half of 2026, and Lilly is expected to pay $3.25 billion upfront in cash, with up to $3.75 billion more in milestone payments tied to clinical, regulatory, and commercial successes.
Kelonia Therapeutics is developing vivo CAR-T therapies using iGPS particles to engineer patients’ T-cells directly inside the body, skipping ex vivo modification, apheresis, and lymphodepleting chemo. Their lead candidate is KLN-1010, which targets BCMA in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma and is in Phase 1 trials. Reuters noted that Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) aims to bolster its oncology portfolio; the oncology market is expected to hit $409 billion by 2028.
Overall, the Street is bullish on Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) as 83% of the 35 analysts covering the stock maintain a Buy rating on the stock. Moreover, the 12-month average price target suggests more than 38% upside from the current level.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) develops and markets pharmaceutical products globally.
While we acknowledge the potential of LLY to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than LLY and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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