In this article, we will look at the 11 Most Profitable NYSE Stocks to Buy Right Now.
On December 12, Adam Parker, Trivariate Research founder and CEO, appeared on CNBC’s ‘Squawk on the Street’ to talk about his view on the ‘buy high and sell low’ mantra. He was of the view that valuation doesn’t work for picking stocks, as we have seen that we cannot buy super cheap stocks.
Similarly, one can also not buy stocks that are down from 52 week highs because of underperformance. According to him, buy low, sell high really comes down to earnings estimates: buying companies when their earnings estimates are too low and selling them when they are too high. The mantra to him is thus more about estimate achievability than price action.
READ ALSO: 15 Best Long-Term Penny Stocks to Invest In and 11 Best Pharma Stocks to Invest In.
Daniel McCormack, head of research and economics at Macquarie Asset Management, also appeared on CNBC to talk about his 2026 outlook on December 12. He expects 2026 to be a year of solid growth, with global growth estimated to be 3 and a half percent, which is roughly in line with its long-run average.
He also expects the US to remain strong, with recoveries slowly but surely gaining ground in Europe and the UK. The big picture, according to McCormack, adds up to an environment with healthy growth and modestly falling interest rates, which is pretty constructive for asset prices in general, making 2026 a “pretty decent” year for returns.
With these trends in view, let’s look at the most profitable NYSE stocks to buy right now.
Our Methodology
We used stock screeners to make a list of profitable NYSE stocks and selected 25 stocks with the highest TTM net income and net income margins. We then picked 11 stocks with the highest number of hedge fund holders, as of Q3 2025. We sourced the hedge fund sentiment data from Insider Monkey’s database. The list is sorted in ascending order of hedge fund holders.
Note: All data was recorded on December 11.
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 427.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 264 percentage points (see more details here).
11 Most Profitable NYSE Stocks to Buy Right Now
11. Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)
TTM Net Income: $14.39 billion
TTM Net Income Margin: 25.53%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 33
Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) is one of the most profitable NYSE stocks to buy right now. HSBC lifted the price target on Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) to $112 from $106 on December 10 while maintaining a Reduce rating on the shares.
The rating update came as part of the 2026 outlook for the pharma group, with the firm telling investors that it sees the sector as well-positioned to outperform in the coming year. This trend is expected to materialize “even more if AI panic kicks in”, according to the firm. HSBC added that while its preferred stocks are “growth bucket ideas”, “fallen angels and value could work as well.”
In a separate development, Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) announced on December 9 positive results from VAYHIT2, a Phase III trial evaluating ianalumab plus eltrombopag in patients living with primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and previously treated with corticosteroids. The results showed that Ianalumab (9 mg/kg) plus eltrombopag managed to extend ITP disease control by 45%, based on the primary endpoint of time to treatment failure (TTF). This ascertains the length of time in which patients maintain safe platelet levels during and after the treatment period.
Management further reported that 62% of the patients who were treated with ianalumab plus eltrombopag attained sustained platelet response at six months compared to 39% with placebo plus eltrombopag. Ianalumab thus holds the potential to reduce the need for chronic treatment and provide durable disease control in ITP, administered as four once-monthly intravenous doses in the ITP setting.
Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) has plans to submit VAYHIT2 data from second-line ITP with results from the ongoing first-line ITP trial, VAYHIT1, to health authorities in 2027.
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) develops, markets, and manufactures a range of healthcare and pharmaceutical products. Its operations span the Innovative Medicines, Sandoz, and Corporate segments
10. BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)
TTM Net Income: $6.1 billion
TTM Net Income Margin: 26.64%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 63
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) is one of the most profitable NYSE stocks to buy right now. On December 12, Barclays slashed its price target on BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) to $1,340 from $1,360 and maintained an Overweight rating on the stock.
The firm told investors that it revised targets in the brokers, asset managers, and exchanges group to take into account its 2026 outlook, adding that markets “look constructive” going into the next year. This holds especially true for the alternative asset managers and wealth brokers. However, the firm expects a more mixed outlook for the exchanges and traditional asset managers going into 2026.
In addition, BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) was initiated with a Neutral rating by UBS on December 11, with a price target of $1,180. Despite a mixed outlook on valuations and consensus expectations, the firm cited strong sector fundamentals across 20 US asset managers and brokers, adding that the outlook supports disciplined capital allocation, undervalued growth, and margin expansion for firms. However, secular tailwinds favor independent investment banks and wealth brokers where robust earnings growth appears only partly priced in, according to the firm.
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) also received a rating update from BofA on December 10, with the firm raising the price target to $1,464 from $1,456 and reaffirming a Buy rating. It told investors in a note on the brokers, asset managers, and exchanges group that it favors alternative asset managers to online brokers when looking towards 2026, primarily due to a stronger macro backdrop and better valuation and positioning setup.
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) provides investment, advisory, and risk management solutions, with its products including multi-asset and single-asset portfolios.
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