On November 14, Alli McCartney, UBS Private Wealth Management managing director, joined ‘Squawk Box’ on CNBC to discuss the latest market trends and what to make of the recent volatility. McCartney argued that, considering the current high valuations, the lack of data, and the opacity in the market, there is a logical expectation for greater volatility than the market has currently exhibited. She explained that when these fundamental factors are combined with recent statements from the Fed, the recent breaks in the market make sense. She specifically attributed this to the period following the October year-end for many funds and asset managers, suggesting they are puking stuff back into the market to effectively restart their year.

While acknowledging that the latest earnings reporting season was extraordinary, she countered that the valuations were equally extraordinary, leading to a constant push-and-pull dynamic. She pointed out the market’s myopic focus on a few stocks, specifically Nvidia and five key company reports. She also attributed the low trading volumes to the time of year and a recent mid-week holiday, characterizing the current period as one of digestion. McCartney, referencing her background as a former volatility trader, stated that she welcomed this period and has been actively putting new money to work over the then-past five days across diverse markets, including gold, precious metals, AI, and hyperscalers. This is part of a barbell strategy, which balances safety zones with risk-on areas. She adopted this strategy due to earlier-year concerns about a potential recession, political erraticism, and a waning dollar.

With that being said, we’re here with a list of the 12 best upside stocks to buy now.

Our Methodology

We first sifted through the Finviz stock screener to compile a list of the top stocks with an upside potential of over 50%. 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 their upside potential. We have also added the hedge fund sentiment for each stock, as of Q3 2025, which was sourced from Insider Monkey’s database.

Note: All data was sourced on November 27. 

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 Upside Stocks to Buy Now

12. Iren Limited (NASDAQ:IREN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52

Average Upside Potential as of November 27: 53.77%

Iren Limited (NASDAQ:IREN) is one of the best upside stocks to buy now. On November 24, JPMorgan raised the firm’s price target on Iren to $39 from $28 and kept an Underweight rating on the shares. The recent surge in M&A activity within the HPC sector has led JPMorgan to have greater confidence in Bitcoin mining companies, such as Iren. This increased conviction is attributed to the bank’s use of higher valuation assumptions for the miners, which are based on viewing them as integrated cloud businesses.

Earlier the same month in its FQ1 2026 earnings report, Iren highlighted a fifth consecutive quarter of increasing revenues and major strategic progress. The company achieved a record revenue of $240 million, marking a 28% sequential increase and a 355% jump year-over-year. The company also earned $1.08 in FQ1, which surpassed guidance by $0.94.

In the quarter, Iren also secured a major, long-term AI cloud contract with Microsoft valued at $9.7 billion. This contract is expected to generate ~$1.94 billion in ARR for Iren. The deal includes a crucial provision for a 20% upfront prepayment from Microsoft, which significantly aids Iren’s capital expenditures and supports a capital-efficient growth strategy.

Iren Limited (NASDAQ:IREN) operates in the vertically integrated data center business in Australia and Canada. The company owns and operates computing hardware, as well as electrical infrastructure and data centers. It also mines Bitcoin.

11. Evolv Technologies Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:EVLV)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45

Average Upside Potential as of November 27: 56.00%

Evolv Technologies Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:EVLV) is one of the best upside stocks to buy now. On November 6, Evolv Technologies Holdings announced that it had entered into a strategic contract manufacturing partnership with Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS). The new collaboration is designed to scale Evolv’s manufacturing and global supply chain capabilities to meet the growing demand for its advanced security screening products.

The partnership combines Evolv’s product expertise with Plexus’ design, supply chain, and manufacturing capabilities to enable large-scale production and distribution. The collaboration with Plexus is expected to position Evolv for its next phase of growth. Key benefits include increased capacity and expertise, a scalable platform to support global expansion through Plexus’ international production network, and long-term cost-saving opportunities through Plexus’ global manufacturing scale and procurement efficiencies.

The partnership will also facilitate new market opportunities via Plexus’ sustaining services solution and strengthen resiliency with geographic coverage, redundancy, and 24/7 global support. Evolv currently maintains ample inventory and committed production capacity to support uninterrupted service and consistent delivery to customers as Plexus is integrated.

Evolv Technologies Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:EVLV) provides AI-based weapons detection for security screening in the US and internationally.

Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) provides electronic manufacturing services in the US, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.