12 Best Stocks to Buy in 2026 for Beginners

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1. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Analyst Upside: 25.94%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 332

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is one of the best stocks to buy in 2026 for beginners. On January 15, Raymond James cut the price target on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) to $260 from $275 and maintained an Outperform rating on the shares, telling investors that the Q4 outlook appears positive due to favorable ad checks, strong holiday trends, and beatable AWS expectations, with the AI narrative likely to take the lead as the primary driver of stock performance next year.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) also received a rating update from Evercore ISI on January 14, with the firm reaffirming a Buy rating on the stock with a $335 price target. TD Cowen also released a rating update for the stock on January 13, raising the price target to $315 from $300 and maintaining a Buy rating.

Reviewing its latest U.S. ad buyer survey, the firm told investors that Amazon.com, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) advertising business is entering a new and powerful phase, with the survey results showing that over 60% of advertisers already using Amazon expect to raise spending in 2026. TD Cowen also cited the significant role of AI in allowing advertisers build and run more effective ads, stating that GenAI tools are allowing increased ad optimization, which in turn can lead to higher spending over time.

The firm expects Amazon.com, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) advertising revenue to rise from around $68 billion in 2025 to nearly $142 billion by 2030, which translates to an annual growth rate of around 16%. TD Cowen also anticipates the company’s share of global digital advertising outside China to grow steadily over the period, further supporting the optimistic outlook.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is a multinational technology company that provides online retail shopping services. It operates through the North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) segments. Its AWS segment covers global sales of storage, computers, databases, and other services for government agencies, academic institutions, startups, and enterprises.

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 this cheapest AI stock.

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