In this article, we will list the 5 Best Quality Stocks to Buy and Hold for the Next 5 Years. Please visit 10 Best Quality Stocks to Buy and Hold for the Next 5 Years if you would like to see the extended list and the methodology behind it.
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5. Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL)
On May 6, 2026, KeyBanc raised its price target on Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) to $889 from $572 and maintained an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm said the company delivered very strong Q1 results alongside robust bookings that provide improved visibility into activity levels for the remainder of the year. KeyBanc added that margins continued to improve sequentially, helped by better weather conditions and execution on large projects. While E-Infra remains a major focus, the firm also pointed to improving Transportation operations and a stronger balance sheet. Free cash flow remained strong, and Sterling ended the quarter in a net cash position, which KeyBanc said could support additional M&A opportunities in E-Infra or MEP expansion into new geographies.
On May 4, 2026, Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) reported Q1 EPS of $3.59, well above the $2.19 consensus estimate, while revenue rose to $825.7M compared to expectations of $591.97M. Backlog at March 31 totaled $3.80B, up 78% year over year. The company said CEC contributed $592.0M to backlog growth, while backlog excluding CEC increased 51%.
CEO Joe Cutillo said Sterling delivered an “exceptional start” to 2026, with adjusted net income increasing 122% and adjusted EBITDA margins remaining above 20%. He added that revenue grew 92%, including more than 55% organic growth, while operating cash flow reached $166M. Cutillo also said bid and award activity remained strong early in 2026, including the award of the initial phase of site development work for a large multi-year semiconductor fabrication campus. CEC also secured several large projects that contributed to a $1.2B increase in combined backlog during the quarter.
Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) raised its FY26 adjusted EPS outlook to $18.40-$19.05 from consensus estimates of $13.59. The company also expects FY26 revenue of $3.70B-$3.80B versus consensus estimates of $3.1B and adjusted EBITDA of $843M-$873M.
Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) provides e-infrastructure, transportation, and building solutions across the United States.
4. Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO)
On May 4, 2026, Jefferies analyst Surinder Thind lowered the firm’s price target on Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) to $1,700 from $1,800 while maintaining a Buy rating. The firm said FICO’s fiscal Q2 results came in well above expectations, though investors remain concerned about potential market share pressure from VantageScore 4.0 as the regulatory environment evolves. Jefferies added that it still believes FICO “will ultimately win out” over time.
On April 30, 2026, Wells Fargo lowered its price target on Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) to $1,400 from $1,650 to reflect lower peer valuation multiples while maintaining an Overweight rating. The firm noted that FICO delivered a strong Q2 beat, driven largely by better-than-expected performance in B2B scores. Wells Fargo added that while the company raised guidance, the outlook still came in below Street estimates, which the firm attributed to conservatism. The analyst also pointed to continued strong demand for FICO’s direct license program.
On April 28, 2026, Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) reported Q1 EPS of $11.14, versus the $10.97 consensus estimate, while revenue rose to $691.7M compared to expectations of $627.1M. CEO Will Lansing said the company continues to deliver strong revenue and earnings growth and announced that FICO was raising its full-year guidance.
Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) provides analytics software across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific.
3. Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS)
On May 5, 2026, Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS) reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.09, versus the $1.06 consensus estimate. Revenue totaled $1.15B, while attributable revenue reached $1.33B compared to consensus expectations of $1.22B. CEO Michael Steinmann said the quarter delivered solid results driven by strong production, disciplined cost management, and improved silver and gold prices compared to the prior quarter. He added that the company remains on track to meet its 2026 guidance and generated $488M in free cash flow during Q1. Cash and short-term investments rose to a record $1.8B, including $199M attributable to the company’s interest in Juanicipio.
Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS) raised its FY26 project capital expenditure outlook to $240M-$255M from the prior $195M-$210M range. The increase reflects additional planned spending on the La Colorada Skarn Project following the release of a revised Preliminary Economic Assessment during Q1 2026. The company now expects to spend $92M-$95M on the project this year versus prior guidance of $47M-$50M. The company maintained its 2026 operating outlook for silver and gold production, zinc, lead and copper production, all-in sustaining costs for its silver and gold segments, and sustaining capital expenditures. Pan American Silver also said gold production is now expected to be more heavily weighted toward the fourth quarter of 2026 as some second-quarter production is expected to shift later in the year.
Before the earnings release, Scotiabank raised its price target on Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS) to $65 from $64 and maintained an Outperform rating as part of a broader update on gold and precious metals companies under coverage.
Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS) explores, develops, extracts, processes, and reclaims mining operations across Latin America and Canada.
2. First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)
On May 5, 2026, Freedom Broker upgraded First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $260 from $250 following the company’s Q1 results. The firm said Section 232 tariffs could provide upside for First Solar’s U.S. business by increasing domestic demand for the company’s products.
Meanwhile, UBS has lowered its price target on First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) to $290 from $300 previously while maintaining a Buy rating on the shares.
On April 30, 2026, First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) reported Q1 EPS of $3.22, versus the $2.98 consensus estimate, while revenue came in at $1.04B compared to expectations of $1.05B. CEO Mark Widmar said the company delivered a strong start to 2026 with record first-quarter revenue, record sales in India, margin expansion, and adjusted EBITDA above the high end of its preview range. Widmar added that First Solar’s competitive position continues to benefit from its technology, domestic manufacturing footprint, and independence from Chinese crystalline silicon supply chains.
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) provides photovoltaic solar energy solutions across the United States and international markets.
1. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
On May 6, 2026, Simulations Plus announced a technical collaboration with NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) focused on enabling GPU-accelerated simulation and AI-assisted workflows for computationally intensive modeling applications used throughout the drug development lifecycle. The collaboration combines Simulations Plus’ scientific engines across physiologically-based pharmacokinetics, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, and quantitative systems pharmacology with NVIDIA AI infrastructure to accelerate simulation cycles, parameter exploration, and virtual population studies. The companies said the effort is designed to reduce manual, expertise-driven work while enabling larger-scale exploration of model structures and parameters in parallel.
Also on May 6, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Corning Incorporated announced a multiyear commercial and technology partnership aimed at expanding U.S.-based manufacturing of advanced optical connectivity solutions used in AI infrastructure. Corning plans to increase U.S.-based optical connectivity manufacturing capacity by 10-times and expand U.S. fiber production capacity by more than 50%, supported by three new manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Texas and more than 3,000 new jobs. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said AI is driving a major infrastructure buildout and creating an opportunity to expand American manufacturing and supply chains through advanced optical technologies.
On May 5, 2026, ServiceNow announced an expansion of its partnership with NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) focused on extending agentic AI governance from desktops to data centers. The announcement included the introduction of Project Arc, an enterprise autonomous desktop agent secured by NVIDIA OpenShell runtime and governed by ServiceNow AI Control Tower. ServiceNow said the AI Control Tower integration with the NVIDIA Enterprise AI Factory validated design is now generally available, while NOWAI-Bench, including EnterpriseOps-Gym and EVA-Bench, has been released as open source.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) operates as a data center-scale AI infrastructure company through its Compute & Networking and Graphics segments.
While we acknowledge the potential of NVDA to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NVDA and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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