12 Best Stocks to Buy in 2026 for Beginners

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6. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Analyst Upside: 25.44%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 179

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is one of the best stocks to buy in 2026 for beginners. On January 13, Citi reaffirmed a Buy rating on Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and set a price target of $450.00. The same day, Bank of America Securities reaffirmed a Buy rating on the stock and set a price target of $382.

The rating updates came the same day Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) released its Global Economic Outlook for 2026, stating that although headline growth remains steady at 2.7%, fundamental transformation is occurring in the global economy, driven by factors such as evolving trade networks, AI adoption, and shifting investment patterns.

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) also received bullish outlooks from Wolfe Research and Bernstein on January 8. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of $430, while Bernstein also maintained a Buy rating on Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and set a price target of $450.

However, Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co., Inc. reiterated a Hold rating on Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) on January 5 and set a price target of $330.00. In a separate development, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and Fiserv, Inc. announced on December 22 a strategic collaboration to enable Visa Intelligent Commerce and deploy Trusted Agent Protocol across the latter’s interoperable agentic ecosystem.

The collaboration would allow merchants to take part in the rapidly evolving domain of Agentic AI, with the combination of  Fiserv’s extensive merchant network with Visa Inc.’s (NYSE:V) authentication and agentic commerce capabilities allowing the two companies to deliver the infrastructure and trust essential for merchants to thrive in a backdrop of increasingly automated commerce.

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) provides digital payment services. It offers credit cards, debit cards, prepaid products, global automated teller machines, and commercial payment solutions.

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