In this article, we will list the 5 Best Stocks to Buy According to Goldman Sachs “Conviction List”. Please visit 10 Best Stocks to Buy According to Goldman Sachs “Conviction List” if you’d like to see an extended list.
To build our list of the Best Stocks to Buy According to Goldman Sachs’ Conviction List, we reviewed publicly available Goldman Sachs Conviction List picks and screened them by short interest as a percentage of float. We then ranked the stocks in descending order of short float.
5. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)
Short Percentage of Float: 1.60%
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) is one of the best stocks to buy according to Goldman Sachs’ Conviction List. Goldman added Air Products to its U.S. Conviction List in October 2025, citing potential growth in industrial gas demand as manufacturing activity improves, with a Buy rating and a $335 price target at the time. The firm updated that view after the company’s latest results, raising its price target to $355 from $325 on May 1, 2026.
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The company’s April 30 fiscal Q2 update gave Goldman’s industrial-gas thesis more support. Air Products reported adjusted EPS of $3.20 and adjusted operating income of $753 million, both up 19% year-over-year, while sales rose 9% to $3.2 billion. The company also raised its fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS guidance from $13.00 to $13.25, while keeping expected capital expenditures at about $4.0 billion. The update also included a growth win in electronics, with Air Products selected by Samsung to build, own, and operate production facilities and a bulk specialty gas supply system for Samsung’s new advanced semiconductor fab in South Korea. Tiny molecule empire, but with capex discipline instead of confetti cannons.
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) is an industrial gases company serving sectors including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, medical, and food, and is also a leading global hydrogen supplier.
4. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD)
Short Percentage of Float: 1.40%
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is one of the best stocks to buy according to Goldman Sachs’ Conviction List. Goldman added McDonald’s to its U.S. Conviction List in September, saying the company had the scale, marketing strength, and digital expertise to navigate an uncertain consumer backdrop. The firm had a Buy rating on the stock with a $355 price target at the time.
The latest quarter gave that thesis a useful reset after earlier concerns around affordability and traffic. On May 7, McDonald’s reported that Q1 2026 global comparable sales rose 3.8%, with U.S. comparable sales up 3.9%, International Operated Markets up 3.9%, and International Developmental Licensed Markets up 3.4%. Systemwide sales increased 11%, or 6% in constant currencies, to more than $34 billion, while adjusted EPS rose 6% to $2.83. The company also said systemwide sales to loyalty members reached more than $9 billion for the quarter across 70 loyalty markets. That matters because Goldman’s case is not just about selling more burgers, tiny pickle machinery and all, but about using brand scale, value offers, marketing, and digital engagement to defend traffic in a pressured consumer environment.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is one of the world’s largest restaurant companies, serving about 63 million customers daily worldwide.
3. Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO)
Short Percentage of Float: 1.10%
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) is one of the best stocks to buy according to Goldman Sachs’ Conviction List. Goldman added Broadcom to its U.S. Conviction List on January 5, alongside Dick’s Sporting Goods, while removing Capital One, Cadence Design Systems, and Houlihan Lokey. Goldman’s list is meant to highlight 20 to 25 differentiated Buy-rated U.S. ideas, and its Broadcom call was tied to the company’s position in enterprise networking silicon and its expected share gains in custom silicon processors for major hyperscalers.
The AI infrastructure case has only grown larger since then. On March 4, Broadcom reported record fiscal Q1 2026 revenue of $19.3 billion, up 29% year-over-year, while AI revenue rose 106% to $8.4 billion. The company guided for Q2 revenue of about $22.0 billion and AI semiconductor revenue of $10.7 billion. Reuters also reported that CEO Hock Tan said Broadcom had a line of sight to more than $100 billion in AI chip revenue in 2027, helped by custom-chip demand from large technology customers.
The software side is also being pulled into the AI infrastructure story. On May 5, Broadcom announced VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1, positioning it as a private-cloud platform for production AI workloads, with support across AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA hardware.
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) designs, develops, and supplies semiconductors and infrastructure software for global organizations’ complex, mission-critical needs.
2. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)
Short Percentage of Float: 0.93%
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is one of the best stocks to buy according to Goldman Sachs’ Conviction List. Goldman added Johnson & Johnson to its U.S. May Directors’ Cut Conviction List on May 1, 2025, alongside Houlihan Lokey, while removing Meritage Homes. The update described the list as a curated selection of stocks Goldman believes hold strong investment potential, though inclusion is separate from a formal rating change.
The company’s latest results support the defensive-growth case without needing any heroic spreadsheet acrobatics. On April 14, Johnson & Johnson reported Q1 2026 sales of $24.1 billion, up 9.9% year-over-year, with operational sales growth of 6.4%. Adjusted EPS came in at $2.70, and the company raised its 2026 outlook to estimated reported sales of $100.8 billion and adjusted EPS of $11.55 at the midpoint. Innovative Medicine sales rose 11.2% to $15.43 billion, while MedTech sales increased 7.7% to $8.64 billion.
The pipeline also remains active. Johnson & Johnson highlighted recent approvals for ICOTYDE in plaque psoriasis, TECVAYLI plus DARZALEX FASPRO in multiple myeloma, VARIPULSE Pro in Europe, and TECNIS PureSee for U.S. cataract patients. On May 5, it also reported Phase 2b DUET data for JNJ-4804 in inflammatory bowel disease and pivotal study results for its investigational OTTAVA soft-tissue surgical robotic system.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is a healthcare company focused on Innovative Medicine and medical technology, with products and therapies across oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiopulmonary, cardiovascular, orthopedics, surgery, and vision.
1. Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR)
Short Percentage of Float: 0.66%
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR) is one of the best stocks to buy according to Goldman Sachs’ Conviction List. Goldman added Interactive Brokers to its U.S. Conviction List on May 1, with a Buy rating and a $98 price target. The firm said Interactive Brokers was “successfully innovating” in the crowded retail brokerage market, which fits the company’s positioning as a low-cost, technology-heavy broker rather than a plain vanilla trading app with better shoes.
The company’s recent numbers lend some support to that thesis. On April 21, Interactive Brokers reported Q1 2026 adjusted EPS of $0.60, up from $0.47 a year earlier, while adjusted net revenue rose to $1.68 billion from $1.40 billion. Commission revenue increased 19% to $613 million, supported by higher stock, futures, and options trading volumes. Customer accounts rose 31% year-over-year to 4.75 million, while customer equity increased 38% to $789.4 billion.
The growth continued into April. On May 1, Interactive Brokers reported 4.859 million client accounts, up 31% year-over-year, and $870.9 billion in ending client equity, up 48%. On May 14, the company also launched a unified prediction-markets interface covering Kalshi, CME Group, and ForecastEx, adding another product layer to its trading platform.
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR) provides automated trade execution and custody across stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds, funds, cryptocurrency, and other products on more than 170 markets in over 40 countries.
While we acknowledge the potential of IBKR to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some other 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 IBKR and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now.
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