In this article, we will look at the 12 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026.
The AI trade is said to be entering its third phase, which is the application and agentic model phase, in 2026. Analysts suggest that 2026 will be a year of increased scrutiny, as investors eye the return on investment and the applicability of the AI infrastructure that hyperscalers have built over the past few years. Katerina Simonetti, of Morgan Stanley, calls 2026 the “show me the money” year for the stock market. Moreover, the market is also experiencing strong demand for AI infrastructure as more companies are transitioning towards developing and deploying agentic models, thereby putting pressure on the supply side.
To talk about this, Stacy Rasgon, senior analyst at Bernstein, joined CNBC television on December 16. He noted that reports suggest Nvidia is considering ramping up its H200 production to meet the expected demand from China. However, the deal between the Chinese companies and Nvidia is still pending approval from the Chinese government.
He added that there is speculation that the United States government has allowed Nvidia to export chips to China, ensuring that they remain dependent on importing chips from the US rather than developing their own, potentially more competitive chips. Rasgon noted he believes that, regardless of the Chinese government’s approval, they might already be developing their own chips in competition with Nvidia’s H200. Rasgon pointed out that there is a ton of demand from Chinese companies. However, on the governmental side, the administration is probably not allowing the companies to import AI infrastructure from the US to boost and encourage domestic production.
Lastly, while talking about the international market, Rasgon noted that the international demand for AI remains strong. However, at this point, the question is regarding the supply side and the capacity of AI infrastructure and hardware companies to fulfil the growing demand in China and other countries around the globe.
Now let’s take a look at the 12 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026.
Our Methodology
To compile the list of 12 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026, we used the Finviz stock screener, Yahoo Finance, CNN, and Insider Monkey’s Q3 2025 database. Using the screener, we aggregated a list of stocks for which analysts expect more than 20% EPS growth in 2026 and more than 25% upside potential. Next, we cross-checked the expected EPS growth from Yahoo Finance and upside potential from CNN. Lastly, we ranked the stocks in ascending order of the number of hedge fund holders sourced from Insider Monkey’s database. Please note that the data was recorded on December 16, 2025.
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).
12 Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026
12. Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET)
EPS Growth 2026: 28.79%
Analyst Upside Potential: 32.98%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 63
Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026. On December 17, Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) and JD Cloud, a branch of JD.com, announced their strategic partnership to create an international platform that helps developers to manage, deploy, and scale AI workloads.
This collaboration comes as an expansion of the company’s 5-year partnership with JD. The aim of this extended partnership is to make the process of running trained AI models to generate outputs like chat responses or image analysis seamless. The companies will work on creating a high-performance AI-Cloud that reduces AI inference workloads by up to 80%. Moreover, the cloud will have enhanced security features, including Cloudflare’s Web Application Firewall (WAF), DDoS protection, and global CDN to keep things reliable and safe.
That said, Wall Street has a positive opinion on the stock. Recently, on December 17, Stifel reiterated a Buy rating on Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) without disclosing any price targets. A day earlier, on December 16, Gregg Moskowitz from Mizuho Securities also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of $280.
Stifel noted that Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) has positioned itself as an important player in the growing need for AI securities. The firm sees the need for AI security, identity security, Zero Trust Security, and more to become increasingly important in 2026 as the deployment of AI and agentic AI speeds up. Under these evolving market dynamics, Stifel sees Cloudflare as one of the companies positioned to benefit from AI deployments.
Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET) is a cloud services provider that powers AI workloads through its Workers AI platform.
11. American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT)
EPS Growth 2026: 36.67%
Analyst Upside Potential: 27.88%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 75
American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026. On December 16, Eric Luebchow from Wells Fargo reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $200 price target. Earlier on December 9, Batya Levi from UBS also reiterated a Buy rating on American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) and kept the price target the same at $260.
Analyst Levi of UBS noted that the firm reiterated its bullish sentiment on the stock after Steve Vondran, CEO and President of American Tower Corporation (NYSE AMT), presented at the UBS Global Media & Communications Conference. At the conference, management highlighted its 2026 strategic priorities, including accelerating organic growth across all regions, driving efficiencies by lowering SG&A as a percentage of sales, and increasing discipline across capital allocation.
Moreover, Levi also highlighted that with the expectation that carriers will need to double their capacity over the next 5 years, the analyst sees American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) as well-positioned to benefit from the increased infrastructure.
Lastly, regarding the Echostar litigation, management noted that while the issue can take longer to settle via courts, they remain open to settling the issue outside the court proceedings with Echostar.
American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) is one of the biggest REITs in the United States, which owns and manages communications real estate within the country and internationally.
10. Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL)
EPS Growth 2026: 26.47%
Analyst Upside Potential: 43.51%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 77
Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026. The share price of Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) has fallen more than 28% year-to-date. However, Wall Street maintains a positive outlook with analysts’ 12-month price target reflecting 43.51% upside from the current level.
Recently, on December 11, Thomas O’Malley from Barclays reiterated a Hold rating on the stock with a $105 price target. Earlier on December 8, Tore Svanberg from Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $114 price target.
Svanberg of Stifel likes the company’s comprehensive portfolio of AI infrastructure that positions the company uniquely in providing end-to-end connectivity solutions. The firm believes in Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) to be a prominent player in the semiconductor industry, demonstrated by its 45% revenue growth during the past 12 months.
The analyst pointed out the offerings of the company, which extend from infrastructure that connects racks to scale-across coherent-lite solutions for linking buildings within AI campuses. He believes that this comprehensive infrastructure offering positions the company as “one of the only vendors offering a comprehensive, vertically integrated connectivity stack for the full architecture of modern AI systems.”
That said, Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) on December 9, announced its strategic Golden Cable initiative that aims to accelerate the active electric cable ecosystem. Management noted that the broadening of the AEC ecosystem will allow hyperscalers to deploy AI faster. Moreover, the initiative will provide partners with ready-to-use software, tested designs, and support to meet hyperscalers’ strict demands for AI workloads.
Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) engages in the development and production of semiconductors, focusing heavily on data centers.
9. Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW)
EPS Growth 2026: 34.66%
Analyst Upside Potential: 28.49%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 102
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026. On December 16, TD Cowen reiterated a Buy rating on the stock, with a $134 price target. A day earlier, on December 15, Simon Leopold from Raymond James resumed Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) with a Buy rating but lowered the price target from $274 to $250.
Analysts from TD Cowen noted that they like the company’s improved execution and reduced risks on the balance sheet. In addition, the firm also likes the company’s transition to a more robust revenue and earnings model. The research firm noted that after meeting with the management of Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW), they are more constructive on management’s approach towards improving net margins and net interest income.
On the other hand, Simon Leopold from Raymond James noted that the company is transforming from a core cloud data warehouse into a comprehensive data, application, and AI platform. He believes that this positions the company better to secure a greater market share in the enterprise workloads. This is further boosted by the rising AI adoption, platform integration trends, and the rise of open data standards. Moreover, the analyst also noted that the company has multiple avenues of expansion, which include deeper ties with major customers through AI-driven features and broader use cases.
Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) offers a cloud-based data platform for various organizations in the US and internationally.
8. MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)
EPS Growth 2026: 49.48%
Analyst Upside Potential: 48.93%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 109
MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026. On December 18, Moody’s Ratings upgraded the company to investment grade, with a Baa3 issuer rating and also upgraded its senior unsecured notes to Baa3 from Ba1, with a stable outlook. This marks a significant step for the company as it is now rated as a low-risk investment.
The decision stems from MercadoLibre, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:MELI) strong track record. Moody’s noted that the company has improved its debt levels, cash flow, and profitability. Moreover, Moody’s praised the company’s fintech transparency and regulatory steps, including detailed reports on past loan performance, regular filing, and future plans for digital bank licenses in Mexico and Argentina, which could unlock more banking services and credibility.
In a different update, on December 10, MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) announced its strategic agreement with Agility Robotics to integrate its Digit humanoid robots in the company’s facility in San Antonio.
Agility Robotics is a leading creator of the humanoid robot Digit, which is the first humanoid robot ready for industrial work. Management noted that Digit will focus on supporting commerce fulfillment by performing tasks including picking, moving totes, and navigating aisles without needing warehouse redesigns. Looking ahead, both companies plan to test the robot for additional tasks, including automating repetitive, physically demanding jobs to improve worker safety, fill labor shortages, and boost productivity.
MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is the leading e-commerce and financial technology company in Latin America with a presence in 18 countries.
7. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD)
EPS Growth 2026: 62.32%
Analyst Upside Potential: 38.78%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 115
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026. The share price of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) has slid 13.97% during the past month. However, Wall Street maintains a positive opinion on the stock, with analysts’ 12 month price target reflecting 38.7% upside from the current levels.
On December 17, Louis Miscioscia from Daiwa reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $300 price target. Earlier on December 16, Cantor Fitzgerald and Bank of America Securities also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock. However, both firms reduced the price targets. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced the price target from $350 to $300, and BofA lowered the target from $300 to $260.
Analyst Vivek Arya of BofA noted that the reduced price target reflects the firm’s updated outlook across the United States semiconductor stocks. The firm sees 2026 as the midpoint of an 8 to 10-year-long AI infrastructure cycle. However, BofA expects volatility in 2026, driven by increased investor scrutiny regarding return on investment and hyperscale cash flow. On the bright side, the firm expects that the volatility will be balanced by increased demand for large language model developers and AI factory expansions.
On the other hand, C J Muse from Cantor Fitzgerald noted that the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is expected to outperform the S&P 500 by about 30 points in calendar year 2025. He noted that this outperformance is driven by the increased demand for AI compute, networking, memory, and equipment sectors. Although the analyst remains cautious in the short-term due to mixed signals, the macro environment remains robust, driven by increased demand for AI infrastructure. Therefore, Muse remains overweight on Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD).
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is a global semiconductor company that manufactures GPUs, microprocessors, and high-performance computing solutions and serves a number of high-growth industries like gaming, data centers, and AI.
6. Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT)
EPS Growth 2026: 62.08%
Analyst Upside Potential: 34.54%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 116
Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026. On December 18, Benjamin Swinburne from Morgan Stanley reiterated a Buy rating on Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT) but lowered the price target from $800 to $775. A day earlier, on December 17, Matthew Condon from Citizen JPM initiated the stock with a Buy rating and a $800 price target.
Swinburne of Morgan Stanley sees the Media and Entertainment entering 2026 strongly, with solid fundamentals boosting momentum in the sector. The analyst sees companies that are insulated from AI disruptions perform the best. He notes that such companies are poised to benefit from increased demand for premium experience.
Moreover, Matthew Condon of Citizen JPM likes Spotify Technology S.A.’s (NYSE:SPOT) multi-vertical platform, which includes music, podcasts, video podcasts, and audiobooks. The analyst sees this multi-platform feature as one of the key factors driving and sustaining revenue and free cash flow growth for the company. Moreover, Condon also highlighted that Spotify has emerged as a best-in-class platform with ongoing product innovation, advanced personalization, and broad accessibility across devices. He added that this supports sustained user growth and provides the company with a significant pricing edge.
Spotify Technology SA (NYSE:SPOT) is a global audio streaming company. The platform serves more than 600 million monthly active users worldwide, making it the largest music streaming service by market share. Spotify generates revenue from subscriptions, advertising, and partnerships.
5. Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)
EPS Growth 2026: 41.78%
Analyst Upside Potential: 35.84%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 130
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026. Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) is making advancements in open-source AI models. Recently, on December 17, the company launched its open-source CosyVoice 3 model, which is a multilingual speech synthesis model that generates high-fidelity voices without prior training on specific speakers. The company highlighted that the model has been trained on more than 1 million hours of audio and supports nine languages.
In addition, the same day, the company also announced a significant upgrade to its AgentScope, which now supports building and deploying enterprise-grade AI agents with enhanced apps, infrastructure, and runtime. Management noted that AgentScope now features ready-to-use agents, including Alias and EvoTraders, along with customizable tools, prompts, and workflows.
That said, a recent report by Reuters published on December 10 suggests that Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) and other Chinese companies are looking to get H200 chips from Nvidia. This comes as the Trump administration gave the green light to the American chipmaker to export its chips to China. However, Alibaba and other companies are waiting for approval from the Chinese government. The government recently met with the representatives of these companies to estimate their demand for H200 chips. If the deal goes through, it will be a significant development for Alibaba, as it will allow the company to train, launch, and deploy its AI models faster.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) is a multinational tech giant focused on e-commerce, retail, cloud computing, and digital services. It aims to make it easy to do business anywhere by connecting buyers and sellers globally through platforms like Alibaba.com (B2B wholesale).
4. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)
EPS Growth 2026: 27.82%
Analyst Upside Potential: 38.19%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 154
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026. On December 18, Laureny Yoon from Bernstein reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $125 price target. On the same day, Benjamin Swinburne from Morgan Stanley reiterated a Buy rating on Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) and lowered the price target from $150 to $120.
The ratings follow a recent December 17 report by Reuters, which noted that the board of Warner Bros Discovery has rejected Paramount Skydance’s hostile bid of $108.4 billion. Warner Bros Discovery noted that Paramount failed to provide the required financial assurance for the bid. Earlier this month, the company had already chosen Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) as a suitor in a deal worth $82.7 billion for the company’s TV, film studios, and streaming assets.
That said, on December 17, Jefferies also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $134 price target. The firm based its bullish sentiment on the recent Warner Bros updates, which suggest Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) will come out as a winner. He added that while the merger news has resulted in short-term volatility for the stock, it presents an optimistic scenario in the long-term. Lastly, Jefferies also remains positive regarding the company’s organic growth potential, with the recent merger adding further upside potential for the stock.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) provides entertainment services and offers TV series, documentaries, feature films, and games across various genres and languages.
3. Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)
EPS Growth 2026: 37.68%
Analyst Upside Potential: 40.88%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 183
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026. The share price of Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) has fallen more than 19% since the company released its fiscal Q4 2025 results on December 11. The falling investor sentiment comes despite the earnings beat. However, Wall Street remains bullish on the stock with analysts’ 12 month price target reflecting more than 40% upside.
During the fiscal Q4 2025, Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) grew its revenue by 28.18% year-over-year to $18.02 billion, surpassing estimates by $555.89 million. The EPS of $1.95 also topped consensus by $0.08. Management attributed the strong quarterly performance to AI growth from XPUs and networking. Notably, the company forecasts that its AI business will deliver more than 100% year-over-year growth to reach $8.2 billion in Q1 2026.
A recent report by Forbes, published on December 18, noted that the falling investor sentiment despite the earnings beat, mainly stems from the disappointing gross margin outlook for Q1 2026. Management expects the margins to compress by around 100 basis points, driven by a shift towards lower-margin AI hardware.
However, Wall Street maintains its bullish outlook on Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO). Recently, on December 17, Joseph Moore from Morgan Stanley reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $462 price target. Earlier on December 15, Timothy Arcuri from UBS also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and also raised the price target from $472 to $475.
Arcuri noted the recent share price pull-back as an overreaction based on his discussion with the company’s management. He added that the drop also indicates overly consensus-long positioning, thereby reflecting widespread bullish consensus. Arcuri highlighted that commentary on AI semiconductor revenue suggests high expectations for the next year, and he raised the price target to $475.
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) designs, develops, and supplies various semiconductor devices and infrastructure software solutions worldwide. The company operates in two segments: Semiconductor Solutions and Infrastructure Software.
2. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
EPS Growth 2026: 59.00%
Analyst Upside Potential: 44.72%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 234
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026. On December 15, Reuters reported that NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) has launched a new family of open source AI models, which are smarter, faster, and cheaper than all its previous models. This comes as the Chinese companies have proliferated the market with open source models.
The new family of AI models is called Nemotron, which specializes in writing, coding, and other tasks. Management noted that they have released Nemotron 3 Nano, which is the smallest of the three models, with the other two larger versions expected to be released in the first half of 2026. Although NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is known for making and providing chips to other companies that make AI models. However, with China’s DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and Alibaba Group Holdings open-source models taking over the market, the company has started to release its open-source models too.
Moreover, the report also noted that Meta platforms is said to be shifting towards closed source models, which will leave NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) as one of the biggest players in the said offerings.
That said, Wall Street remains bullish on the tech giant. Recently, on December 17, Joseph Moore from Morgan Stanley reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $250 price target. Earlier, on December 15, Stacy Rasgon from Bernstein also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $275 price target.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) designs and sells specialized processors, initially for gaming but now also crucial for AI, data centers, professional visualization, and the automotive industry. It developed the graphics processing unit (GPU) and the CUDA parallel computing platform, which allows its GPUs to perform tasks beyond graphics.
1. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
EPS Growth 2026: 20.58%
Analyst Upside Potential: 28.49%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 273
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy and Hold for 2026. On December 12, Justin Post from Bank of America Securities reiterated a Buy rating on the stock without disclosing any price target. Earlier on December 11, Brian Nowak from Morgan Stanley also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock, but lowered the price target from $820 to $750.
Analyst Brian Nowak from Morgan Stanley noted that while they remain bullish on the stock, they are lowering fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027 EPS estimates by around 8% each. The firm now expects EPS growth of 5% and 6% for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in 2026 and 2027, respectively. Moreover, the analyst also noted that they anticipate higher operating expenses for the company and expect fiscal 2027 EPS to be around $33. Nowak added that while the investor sentiment has turned negative, the firm remains confident in the company’s revenue runway and unprecedented innovation.
In addition, Piper Sandler on December 11 called Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) one of the top large-cap picks. The firm noted that data from their advertising buyer survey suggests accelerated market growth in 2026, which is expected to benefit the company. Moreover, Piper Sandler also expects the company to achieve at least 20% year-over-year growth based on the favourable market conditions. The firm finds investor concerns regarding high capital expenditure as overstated and reinforced its bullish sentiment.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is focused on developing AI-powered social platforms and immersive technologies, including Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
While we acknowledge the potential of META 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 META and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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