In this article, we will look at the 9 Good Stocks to Buy Now.
On March 21, Tom Lee, CIO at Fundstrat, appeared on a CNBC Television interview to discuss the market potential amid the war. Despite the volatility and more than 7% year-to-date decline in the S&P 500 index, Lee maintains his target of 7,700 for the index. He noted that the 7,700 was already a modest target and assumed only modest P/E expansion. Moreover, the market has already been re-pricing the stocks on a P/E basis due to the volatility. Lee also highlighted that, despite the war creating major setbacks in the market and on monetary policy, history tells us that such events have been beneficial for the US economy and stock market.
Lee believes that once we enter the second half of 2026, investors will be thinking less about the war and more about the opportunities. He elaborated that in times of conflicts, investors can easily list down all the major threats to the stock market, and the negative impact gets priced in the market very quickly. However, the threats are always counterbalanced with opportunities. Lee quoted that during the past 8 major conflicts involving the US, the market was bottoming very early in the conflict, but recovered quickly.
With that, let’s take a look at 9 Good Stocks to Buy Now.
Our Methodology
We used quality factor ETFs, including iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF, to identify good stocks, and limited our final selection to companies that have recently reported noteworthy developments likely to impact investor sentiment. These stocks are also popular among analysts and elite hedge funds.
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 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).
9 Good Stocks to Buy Now
9. KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 67
KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) is one of the Good Stocks to Buy Now. KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) held its analyst day on March 12, where the company reaffirmed its fiscal Q3 2026 outlook and also announced its 2030 targets. The stock has gained more than 9% since the analyst day.
Following the event, Wolfe Research reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock with a price target of $1,800. During the event, management reaffirmed its fiscal Q3 guidance of revenue around $3.35 billion, along with a non-GAAP gross margin of around 61.75%.
The company noted that the industry environment for calendar year 2026 remains strong across all segments. Management noted that they expect Wafer Equipment, incl. The Advanced Packaging industry during calendar year 2026 to be in the range of $135 billion to $140 billion, up around 11% year-over-year. Moreover, the calendar year 2027 is also expected to remain strong with a growth rate similar to or higher than that of 2026.
Similarly, management also presented its 2030 target that indicates revenue of around $26 billion along with an EPS of $84. These targets rely on a $215 billion wafer fab equipment market, KLA’s process control share gains, rising inspection intensity, and service growth accelerating to 13% to 15% annually. Wolfe Research noted that DRAM inspection intensity and advanced logic checks will rise due to AI-driven compute and memory needs.
KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) is involved in the supply of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related nano-electronics industries.
8. SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 73
SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) is one of the Good Stocks to Buy Now. On March 25, Reuters reported that SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) is deepening its partnership with Nvidia to build out advanced AI infrastructure and models for the energy sector. The report noted that this collaboration targets faster data processing, lower costs and emissions, and new growth avenues in AI-driven services.
Reuters noted that SLB and Nvidia first partnered in 2008, when SLB adopted Nvidia’s accelerated computing technology in its workflows. This collaboration was deepened in 2024 into the development of generative AI solutions for energy use cases, including subsurface analysis and production optimization.
As part of this partnership, SLB will act as a design partner for modular AI data centers built on Nvidia technology. This will help design scalable systems that energy operators can deploy more quickly. The partner companies plan to create an “AI Factory for Energy,” which is a platform intended to let oil and gas producers and power companies run AI on large volumes of operational data, turning it into actionable insights for planning and operations.
SLB N.V. (NYSE:SLB) provides energy technology and operates through the following business segments: Digital and Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems.
7. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 86
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is one of the Good Stocks to Buy Now. On March 10, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) was reiterated with a Buy rating from Bank of America Securities and a price target of $825.
The analyst noted that he co-hosted a call with Williams Companies CEO Chad Zamarin. The discussion implied a positive outlook for Caterpillar due to Williams’ role as a major energy infrastructure player operating single-cycle turbines. Williams Companies noted that the incremental demand for turbine capacity remains strong, driven by strong growth prospects and elevated capital expenditure.
This benefits Caterpillar as the turbine unit is a high-margin unit for the company, and the strong demand trends signal long-term earning power for the company. Moreover, Feniger noted positive commentary on long-term service agreements in the turbine sector, based on BofA’s checks over the past 10 months.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is a global manufacturer of construction, mining, and energy equipment. The company offers financing solutions, engines, and turbines, and integrates AI, autonomy, and connectivity to improve productivity in the infrastructure, industrial, and power markets.
6. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 137
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is one of the Good Stocks to Buy Now. On March 20, Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating on Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) with a price target of $1,300.
The rating is based on the company’s prescription data for GLP-1 medications. Oral Wegovy had roughly 89,300 IMS prescriptions and 76,800 Symphony prescriptions in the 10th week of its launch. The data outpace comparable launches of injectable Wegovy and Zepbound.
On the other hand, data from other GLP-1 drugs witnessed declines, including Zepbound falling 3% to 17,100 prescriptions, Mounjaro dropping to 13,100 after a 2% decline, and injectable Wegovy decreased 3% to 9,710.
The firm noted that the data for oral Wegovy is encouraging for Eli Lilly’s Orforglipron, ahead of its PDUFA date on April 10, 2026. The firm projects $2 billion in 2026 Orforglipron revenue, exceeding the $1.55 billion consensus, against Lilly’s guidance of $80 billion to $83 billion total revenue.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) develops, manufactures, discovers, and sells pharmaceutical products. These products span oncology, diabetes, immunology, neuroscience, and other therapies.
While we acknowledge the potential of LLY 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 LLY and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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