In this article, we will look at the 13 Best Strong Buy Stocks to Invest in Right Now.
On December 29, Claudia Sahm, chief economist at New Century Advisors and former Fed economist, appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” to talk about her 2026 outlook.
She stated that while there are a lot of unanswered questions, her outlook for the year is “relatively positive”. She was of the view that we need to transition out of the low-hire labor market into one where we see a hiring pickup, and there is potential to do so. The first half of the year would provide insight into these dynamics, with the Fed lowering interest rates and trying to frontload some of the insurance against the labor market deteriorating.
READ ALSO: 17 Cheap Stocks Under $20 to Buy Now and 7 Affordable Stocks With Good Earnings Growth for 2026.
In addition, we have some fiscal stimulus coming on early in the year with tax cuts for households and for businesses. We would, therefore, get considerable clarity early in the year if we are going to get some oomph to get the labor market going again. That, according to her, is critical for sustained growth instead of just a couple of quarters of really outsized GDP growth.
Jeremy Siegel, professor emeritus of finance at the University of Pennsylvania and chief economist at WisdomTree, also appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” the same day to talk about his outlook for 2026. He exhibited similar sentiments, stating that while the stock market has some bumps to cover in January, 2026 looks like a positive year if it manages to overcome them.
With these trends in view, let’s look at the best strong buy stocks to invest in right now.
Our Methodology
We used stock screeners to make a list of strong buy stocks that analysts were bullish on and then selected the top 13 stocks with the highest number of hedge fund holders as of Q3 2025. We sourced the hedge fund sentiment data from Insider Monkey’s database. The list is sorted in ascending order of hedge fund holders.
Note: All data was recorded on January 2.
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).
13 Best Strong Buy Stocks to Invest in Right Now
13. SailPoint, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIL)
Analyst Upside: 42.48%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 25
SailPoint, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIL) is one of the best strong buy stocks to invest in right now. Mizuho Securities reaffirmed a Hold rating on SailPoint, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIL) on December 16 and set a price target of $23.00. SailPoint, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIL) also received a rating update from Scotiabank on December 10, with the firm lowering the price target to $24 from $25 and maintaining an Outperform rating on the shares. It told investors that while fiscal Q3 annual recurring revenue (ARR) beat was a “tad underwhelming”, the trends were offset by strong fiscal Q4 ARR guidance. The firm continues to believe that the risk-reward on SailPoint, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIL) skews to the upside.
In addition to Scotiabank, Mizuho also lowered the price target on the stock to $23 from $24 the same day while reaffirming a Neutral rating. The firm told investors in a research note that SailPoint, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIL) delivered a strong fiscal Q3 with 28% total annual recurring revenue growth and 38% SaaS ARR, both of which slightly exceeded expectations. These trends were attributed to solid cloud-migration activity and broad demand. It added that the company’s IGA platform, along with its SaaS transition, lends it a strong position for long-term ARPU expansion. Mizuho, however, also stated that the extent of future cross-selling traction remains uncertain.
SailPoint, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIL) provides an elaborate identity security platform for the enterprise, with its solutions allowing organizations to control, establish, and automate policies that allow them to attain regulatory compliance and define and maintain a robust security posture.
12. D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS)
Analyst Upside: 42.20%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 28
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) is one of the best strong buy stocks to invest in right now. D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) was initiated with an Outperform rating by Wedbush on December 17 with a price target of $35. The firm told investors that although still in its infancy, it sees the industry and the company benefiting from broad commercial adoption as the next major catalyst. This holds especially true since D-Wave Quantum Inc.’s (NYSE:QBTS) annealing systems are ready for commercial use. Wedbush added that the combination of the company’s significant real-world advantages from optimization and its considerable addressable market is applicable across various industries and verticals, making D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) a compelling investment when coupled with the anticipated energy efficiencies.
Jefferies also initiated coverage of D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) on December 16 with a Buy rating and a $45 price target, detailing that the company is well-positioned to benefit from ecosystem tailwinds elevating sentiment and usage across quantum architectures. It further stated that with Advantage2 commercially available through Leap, these catalysts point towards bigger experimentation budgets, customer education, and pilots that feed the annealing funnel.
D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE:QBTS) is involved in the development and delivery of quantum computing systems, services, and software, offering customers access to its quantum computing systems through the cloud in the form of quantum computing as a service.
