In this article, we will talk about the 15 Best S&P 500 Stocks to Look For in 2026.
On January 19, Reuters reported that shares of U.S. tech giants plunged in Europe on Monday following President Donald Trump’s threat to impose higher tariffs on European countries linked to the U.S.’ pursuit of Greenland. The news was a negative sign for investors, as stock markets fell across Asia as well. Alphabet’s shares listed in Frankfurt dropped 2.4%, while Nvidia and Microsoft shares fell 2.2%, respectively.
The U.S. dollar also took a hit from this news. Trump has threatened European countries with tariffs as low as 10% starting on February 1, rising to 25% on June 1. Francesca Fornasari, head of currency solutions at Insight Investment, said,
I’m sure that there are a lot of people who are fairly aghast at what happened over the weekend and probably thinking about how they hold their assets.
Fornasari further added that the U.S. dollar could move lower, but it is supported by a strong economy and established securities.
Markets have a modest reaction to Trump’s threat. Analysts believe it is a sign that markets think Trump will end up de-escalating, as he had done previously, reported Reuters. Leonard Kwan, fixed income portfolio manager at T Rowe Price, said:
For the most part, so far, it would appear to be more noise than signal at this point.
In 2025, the S&P 500 returned nearly 17.90%, marking the third consecutive year of double-digit and above-average gains. The Magnificent Seven, which includes Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla, contributed the most to the index, with an average total return of 21.90%, accounting for almost 40% of the S&P 500’s overall performance. Wall Street remains positive on the S&P 500 and expects yet another year of double-digit returns, with an average expectation of a gain of 16% for 2026.
With that, let’s take a look at the 15 Best S&P 500 Stocks to Look For in 2026.
Photo by Pascal Bernardon on Unsplash
Our Methodology
To create the list of 15 best S&P 500 stocks to look for, we first shortlisted the top 30 S&P 500 companies widely held by hedge funds, have favorable analyst opinions, and have a positive upside. From this pool, we ranked the 15 best S&P 500 stocks based on the number of hedge funds holding stakes in them. The hedge fund sentiment data for each stock were sourced from Insider Monkey’s database as of Q3 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).
Note: All the data is as of market close on January 19, 2026.
15. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)
Market Capitalization: $850.62 Billion
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 120
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is one of the best S&P 500 stocks to look for in 2026.
On January 14, Evercore ISI analyst Glenn Schorr reaffirmed his Buy rating on JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and maintained the price target at $350. The analyst reiterated his Buy rating following the Q4 2025 earnings call. Schorr asked management about the stablecoin regulatory risk and deposit dynamics, to which management replied that the issue applies to the entire banking sector.
JPMorgan Chase added 1.7 million net new checking accounts, 10.4 million new card accounts, and record households in wealth management in 2025. The company reiterated that expectations for consumer deposit growth in 2026 have been revised lower from previous guidance, now expected to be below 6% for the year.
In other news, President Donald Trump on January 17 said that he will sue JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) for ‘incorrectly and inappropriately debanking’ the president after the January 6 protests. President Trump denied the Wall Street Journal report that said he offered JPM CEO Jamie Dimon the position of Fed chair. The President stated:
This statement is totally untrue; there was never such an offer, and, in fact, I’ll be suing JPMorgan Chase over the next two weeks for incorrectly and inappropriately DEBANKING me after the January 6th Protest.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is one of the largest financial companies in the world. The company operates through three segments, including Consumer & Community Banking, Commercial & Investment Banking, and Asset & Wealth Management.
14. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Market Capitalization: $1.45 Trillion
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 120
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is one of the best S&P 500 stocks to look for in 2026.
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) could be a beneficiary of a new development in which Canada agreed to the removal of 100% tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, according to Reuters. On January 19, Reuters reported that Canada is lowering the EV-import tariff to 6.1% from 100% as part of trade deal normalization with China.
As per the deal, Canada will allow the import of over 49,000 EVs annually from China, with the quota rising to 70,000 within five years. With Tesla’s strong presence in Canada, it could be a great deal for the EV maker. The company already has 39 stores across the country, and an existing logistics setup is a plus. Since Tesla’s largest factory is in Shanghai, it is planning to build a Canada-specific version of the Model Y.
Tesla’s exports were on hold as tariffs rose in 2024. The new deal could allow the company to resume operations with China-based shipments in Canada.
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is a leading EV maker and also designs, develops, and manufactures energy generation and storage systems. The company operates through two segments: Automotive and Energy Generation and Storage.
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