5 Best Commodity Stocks to Buy in 2026

3. Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 81

On the back of strong hedge fund and analyst support, Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) features on our list of the best commodity stocks to buy in 2026. The stock carries an upside of 44.7%.

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) drew attention after Barclays turned relatively cautious on the stock.

On May 26, 2026, Barclays analyst Betty Jiang downgraded Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) to “Equal Weight” from “Overweight” and cut the firm’s price target to $110 from $127. The firm cited a reduced gas outlook and what it called a “less visible” near-term catalyst path. Barclays also noted that valuation creation at Expand is increasingly driven by gas marketing and commercial optimization, which brings greater dependence on market conditions and timing.

That discussion comes as Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) executes its current strategy.

On the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call on April 29, 2026, interim Chairman Michael Wichterich laid out exactly that shift, saying the company’s primary focus for the quarter was marketing and commercial activity. Management said the target is roughly $0.20 of margin improvement per unit, equating to approximately $500 million of repeatable incremental free cash flow per year. Wichterich described the approach as stacking singles and doubles across three categories: reaching premium markets, monetizing volatility, and facilitating new demand. In Q1 alone, Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) said it generated nearly $90 million of incremental value from volatility capture.

The Barclays concern, then, is essentially that the payoff from this strategy depends heavily on where gas prices go and when new demand materializes. Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) signed a new offtake agreement with Delfin LNG for 1.15 million tons per year during the quarter, and management added 0.5 Bcfd of term sales and firm transportation to end users over the past six months.

Meanwhile, Wichterich said the LNG and power demand categories are roughly three years out, while the near-term opportunity is already being captured through volatility and premium market access.

Expand Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:EXE) is an oil & gas E&P company that deals in oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The company was formerly known as Chesapeake Energy Corporation.