On September 16, Lauren Goodwin, New York Life Investments chief market strategist, joined ‘Closing Bell’ on CNBC to suggest that the market’s rally will remain healthy through year-end. Goodwin was interviewed regarding the stock market’s consistent ascent to record highs for the S&P and NASDAQ in 2025. She admitted that she did not expect this slow melt-up, especially not after Liberation Day. Goodwin anticipated market jitters would arise from the policy changes occurring and noted that these changes are beginning to appear in economic indicators such as inflation and jobs data. However, she projects that the worst impacts of these policy shifts may not materialize until next year, leading to a healthy rally through the end of the current year. Goodwin also believes that a first rate cut has become necessary to maintain market confidence. She cited weakness in the labor market and the need for insurance to get ahead of an otherwise healthy economic cycle.
While her firm expected a 25 basis point cut on Wednesday, she is not convinced that this will initiate a consistent rate-cutting cycle. She warned that the market is likely getting a little bit ahead of itself by pricing in continuous cuts, given existing risks to inflation and the fact that financial conditions are already very loose. Addressing where investors should allocate capital for the next 6 months, Goodwin described the current environment as challenging because valuations are high across asset classes. However, she explained that the most expensive assets are often so for a reason and are the most likely to benefit from the interest rate cut. While a typical rate-cutting cycle or an economic reacceleration would suggest a broadening of activity and the outperformance of small caps, she noted that the current run-up in valuations is driven by structural improvements and concepts like AI, not just the economic cycle.
That being said, we’re here with a list of the 12 best innovative stocks to buy now.
Methodology
We sifted through different financial media reports to compile a list of the top innovative companies that promote the development of groundbreaking ideas, products, services, or business processes. We then selected the 12 stocks that were the most popular among elite hedge funds and that analysts were bullish on. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q2 2025.
Note: All data was sourced on September 19.
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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
12 Best Innovative Stocks to Buy Now
12. Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ:INCY)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42
Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ:INCY) is one of the best innovative stocks to buy now. On September 17, Incyte announced new 24-week interim data from its pivotal Phase 3 STOP-HS clinical trial program for povorcitinib/INCB54707, which is an oral small-molecule, highly-selective JAK1 inhibitor, in adult patients with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa/HS.
The results support the company’s planned regulatory submissions for povorcitinib in HS, expected in Europe in 2025 and the US in early 2026. Both Phase 3 studies, STOP-HS1 and STOP-HS2, previously met their primary endpoint at the 12-week mark for both tested doses (45 mg and 75 mg) administered once daily, which was the achievement of HiSCR50.
The new 24-week data show continued clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements, with nearly 60% of efficacy-evaluable patients across both povorcitinib treatment groups in both studies achieving HiSCR50. The overall safety profile was consistent with previous data, and both doses were well tolerated. HS is a chronic inflammatory condition estimated to affect more than 150,000 patients with moderate to severe HS in the US.
Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ:INCY) is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and commercializes therapeutics in the US, Europe, Canada, and Japan.
11. Accenture (NYSE:ACN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 65
Accenture (NYSE:ACN) is one of the best innovative stocks to buy now. On September 9, Accenture announced the acquisition of IAMConcepts, which is a privately held Canadian company that specializes in Identity and Access Management/IAM services. The acquisition will support Accenture’s capacity to deliver advanced IAM solutions across Canada, particularly within key critical infrastructure sectors.
The acquisition brings Accenture highly specialized and credentialed talent and enhances industry solutions. IAMConcepts provides end-to-end IAM services, including Identity Governance and Administration, Privileged Access Management, and Customer Identity and Access Management. According to Accenture’s Research for State of Cybersecurity Resilience 2025 report, two-thirds (67%) of organizations still rely on legacy IAM systems.
The acquisition of IAMConcepts is Accenture’s latest strategic move to expand its cybersecurity capabilities; since 2015, the company has made 22 acquisitions in the cybersecurity sector, including CyberCX, Morphus, and MNEMO Mexico most recently. IAMConcepts was also recently recognized in the 2024 KuppingerCole North American Leadership Compass report on IAM systems integrators.
Accenture (NYSE:ACN) provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally.
10. Guidewire Software Inc. (NYSE:GWRE)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 67
Guidewire Software Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) is one of the best innovative stocks to buy now. On September 9, LähiTapiola, which is a Finnish finance group and insurance service provider, announced that it will be implementing the Guidewire Cloud Platform to modernize its insurance operations. The move extends LähiTapiola’s long-standing relationship with Guidewire, which has provided core applications to the company since 2017.
The project involves migrating LähiTapiola’s existing Guidewire InsuranceSuite from an on-premises environment to the Guidewire Cloud Platform. InsuranceSuite consists of core applications for policy administration, billing, and claims management, enabling seamless end-to-end P&C insurance processes.
The cloud migration will benefit customers and colleagues by providing a scalable, secure, and rapidly updatable delivery model. The Guidewire Cloud Platform combines trusted and resilient infrastructure with modular and interconnected cloud services to enhance and extend core applications.
Guidewire Software Inc. (NYSE:GWRE) provides a platform for property and casualty/P&C insurers worldwide. The company offers Guidewire InsuranceSuite, such as PolicyCenter, ClaimCenter, and BillingCenter applications.
9. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 73
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) is one of the best innovative stocks to buy now. On September 17, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced updated analyses from the ongoing Phase 2 COURAGE trial for obesity. The complete 26-week results, which were presented as a late-breaking oral session at the 61st Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes/EASD in September this year, investigate novel combinations of the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide with trevogrumab (anti-GDF8/anti-myostatin), with or without garetosmab (anti-activin A).
The trial’s primary goal was to investigate the quality of weight loss in patients with obesity over a 26-week weight-loss phase, with an ensuing 26-week weight-maintenance phase. The results confirmed a key challenge of GLP-1 receptor agonists: 33% of the weight loss induced by semaglutide monotherapy was attributed to a loss of lean mass. However, all combination groups showed improved body composition with lean mass preservation and greater fat loss compared to semaglutide alone.
Across all treatment groups, including semaglutide monotherapy, numerical improvements were observed in secondary and exploratory metabolic and lipid parameters, such as waist circumference, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and A1C. The combination of semaglutide with trevogrumab was generally well-tolerated. The safety and efficacy of trevogrumab and garetosmab have not been evaluated by any regulatory authority.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) discovers, invents, develops, manufactures, and commercializes medicines for treating various diseases worldwide.
8. Workday Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 76
Workday Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) is one of the best innovative stocks to buy now. On September 16, Workday announced Workday Data Cloud, which is a new data layer designed to unlock the strategic value of organizations’ core HR and finance data by securely connecting it in real-time to their existing analytics and operational systems.
The goal is to provide customers with rich, secure, and real-time insights, thereby accelerating the conversion of workforce and financial information into action, creating a true strategic advantage. Workday is establishing an open and connected data ecosystem through partnerships with Databricks, Salesforce, and Snowflake.
The collaboration introduces a zero-copy approach, which allows customers to get direct, zero-copy access to their core HR and finance data within these external platforms, and simultaneously bring customer and business data into Workday without duplication. This eliminates the need for costly data exports, bulky reports, and stale duplicates, ensuring only clean, governed data is used.
Workday Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) provides enterprise cloud applications in the US and internationally. The company offers a suite of financial management applications.
7. Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 81
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is one of the best innovative stocks to buy now. On September 10, Cisco and Tata Communications announced a new collaboration in a landmark move designed to reshape the future of how businesses connect, manage, and scale their global enterprise IoT deployments. The collaboration addresses persistent hurdles faced by organizations managing large fleets of connected devices.
Such challenges typically slow down rollouts, increase costs, and limit the flexibility and scalability of IoT initiatives. The core of this partnership involves embedding Tata Communications MOVE into Cisco’s IoT Control Center. Tata Communications MOVE is described as an intelligent, multi-generational, global eSIM orchestration solution that has delivered over 350+ million eSIM Operating Systems and manages the SIM lifecycle with reach across 200+ countries and territories.
Cisco’s IoT Control Center is a device management platform cloud offering that is used by over 32,000 enterprises and supports more than 270 million SIM IoT devices, including 100 million connected cars. By using their combined expertise, the two companies will enable enterprises to seamlessly activate and manage devices across multiple SIM providers, private and public networks, and eSIM standards.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) designs, develops, and sells technologies that help to power, secure, and draw insights from the internet in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, Japan, and China.
6. ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 106
ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW) is one of the best innovative stocks to buy now. On September 20, Vectice, which is the Regulatory MLOps platform, announced a forward-looking integration with ServiceNow to accelerate AI governance and compliance, specifically targeting the financial services industry. This aims to transform how businesses deliver a streamlined, audit-ready experience for risk and data science teams.
The collaboration will enable Vectice to automatically deliver robust and comprehensive model development and validation documentation in minutes directly to customers using ServiceNow Integrated Risk Management/IRM. The integration is critical for risk reduction and the rapid deployment of AI models, especially as supervisory expectations tighten, as illustrated by guidelines like Canada’s E-23 and the UK’s SS1/23, and as GenAI projects accelerate.
By bringing Vectice’s advanced technology directly into ServiceNow Risk Management, customers gain unprecedented visibility into models and can streamline the AI model approval processes. Vectice provides a single, policy-driven workflow that helps data science, risk, and compliance teams scale AI without the bottleneck of audit backlogs.
ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE:NOW) provides a cloud-based solution for digital workflows in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and internationally.
5. Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 121
Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is one of the best innovative stocks to buy now. On September 16, CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Salesforce announced a new partnership to enhance the security of AI agents and applications built on Agentforce and the Salesforce Platform. The partnership will deliver enhanced protection, visibility, and faster response capabilities for mission-critical AI agents, applications, and workflows.
The core of the partnership involves two major integrations. First, CrowdStrike Falcon Shield, which provides visibility and automated threat response for SaaS applications, will be integrated with Salesforce Security Center. The integration will provide customers with a unified view of permissions and controls, enabling them to gain visibility & accountability, proactively detect risky behavior, and automatically contain threats using Falcon Fusion to block risky access or disable compromised agents.
The second key integration involves bringing CrowdStrike’s agentic security analyst, Charlotte AI, into Slack via Agentforce for Security. This empowers teams to handle security incidents more quickly and efficiently in a conversational manner within Slack.
Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) provides customer relationship management/CRM technology that connects companies and customers worldwide.
4. Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 156
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) is one of the best innovative stocks to buy now. On September 17, Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) and Broadcom announced an expansion of their long-standing partnership with a new multi-year agreement during the VMware Explore on Tour event in London. The extension is set to accelerate Lloyds Banking Group’s ambitious digital transformation strategy.
The deal will deepen the Group’s use of Broadcom’s infrastructure software portfolio, including VMware Cloud Foundation and mainframe solutions, to enhance the resilience, agility, and scalability of its technology estate. The infrastructure upgrade is critical to the Group’s ability to deliver faster, more reliable digital services to the 28 million customers and businesses it supports across the UK.
The Group will deploy VMware Cloud Foundation to consolidate its data centers, establishing a consistent operating model across its private cloud environment. Additionally, Broadcom’s mainframe solutions will continue to underpin Lloyds’ mission-critical workloads. These solutions offer advanced automation, intuitive tooling, and seamless integration into hybrid environments.
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) designs, develops, and supplies semiconductor devices and infrastructure software solutions. The company operates through two segments: Semiconductor Solutions and Infrastructure Software.
3. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 219
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is one of the best innovative stocks to buy now. On September 17, Google and PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) announced a multiyear partnership to advance several commerce solutions and revolutionize digital commerce. The collaboration combines the expertise and scale of both companies and seeks to deliver frictionless digital commerce experiences.
The partnership focuses on several key innovations to redefine the future of commerce. Firstly, the companies are collaborating on Agentic Shopping and Commerce Experiences, creating new AI shopping experiences and developing industry standards by combining PayPal’s global payment infrastructure, data-driven personalization, and trusted identity solutions with Google’s AI expertise.
Secondly, there will be a Broad Embedding of PayPal Solutions across Google’s platforms, including PayPal-branded checkout, Hyperwallet, and PayPal Payouts, to support seamless experiences. Thirdly, PayPal Enterprise Payments will become a key payment provider for processing card payments across major Google products.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) offers various products and platforms internationally and operates through the Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments.
2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 294
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the best innovative stocks to buy now. On September 17, Rimo3, which is a leader in intelligent Windows workspace management, and Microsoft announced the launch of the official Intune Migration Program to provide enterprises with a faster, lower-risk path for moving applications and devices from Microsoft Configuration Manager/SCCM to Microsoft Intune, combining Rimo3’s intelligent automation with guided onboarding.
The goal is to help organizations validate and migrate every application in days rather than the typical weeks or months, accelerating modernization and ensuring a future-ready IT environment. The Intune Migration Program is currently open and offers customers registered in the program two months of free access to plan, pilot, and scale their migration with confidence.
During this period, customers gain access to unlimited Intune Win32 packaging for streamlined onboarding. The solution also includes the Patch Catalog, which allows users to subscribe to applications and automatically import vendor updates into Intune as they are released.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) develops and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide.
1. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 335
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is one of the best innovative stocks to buy now. On September 17, Amazon.com announced that it is investing more than $1 billion to both raise pay and lower healthcare costs for its US fulfillment and transportation employees. The investment will push the average total compensation for these employees to over $30 per hour, which includes benefits.
The average hourly pay alone will increase to more than $23 per hour. Specifically, full-time employees are set to see their pay increase by an average of $1,600 per year. In addition to the pay raises, Amazon is lowering the cost of its entry-level healthcare plan, effective starting in 2026. The cost will drop to just $5 per week, with co-pays also set at $5.
This represents a 34% drop in the weekly contributions required from employees. At the end of last year, Amazon employed more than 1.5 million full-time and part-time employees, in addition to seasonal temporary workers and independent contractors hired for peak seasons like the crucial holiday rush. The announcement follows a period of worker tension.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) engages in the retail sale of consumer products, advertising, and subscription services through online and physical stores in North America and internationally.
While we acknowledge the potential of AMZN 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 AMZN and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now.
Disclosure: None.
