In this article, we will list the 5 best stocks in the Graham Stephan stock portfolio. Please visit Graham Stephan Stock Portfolio: Top 11 Stocks if you would like to see the extended list and the methodology behind it.
5. Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares (NASDAQ:VXUS)
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares (NASDAQ:VXUS) is an index fund recommended by Graham Stephan. The Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index, a float-adjusted market-capitalization-weighted index designed to measure equity market performance of companies located in developed and emerging markets, excluding the United States. The Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund invests all, or substantially all, of the assets in the common stocks included in the target index.
The top holdings in the Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares (NASDAQ:VXUS) include companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, ASML Holding N.V., SK Hynix, and Alibaba Group Holding Limited, among others. These stocks are also very popular among hedge funds. The top holdings in the Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares (NASDAQ:VXUS) are concentrated in the financial services, technology, and industrial sectors. These three make up for 22.3%, 18.1%, and 16.1% of the total portfolio. The Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund has $629 billion in net assets with a year-to-date daily total return of around 10.8%.
4. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)
Graham Stephan is not one to take individual stock recommendations lightly. This is because he believes that investing in individual stocks is risky. However, when he does recommend a stock, his followers take that advice to heart. Four years ago, in a video on investing $10,000 in different ways, Stephan singled out Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) as one of the stocks to buy. The context around the shares has changed dramatically since then, more so in recent months as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East lead to a dramatic fallout in global energy stocks because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
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However, the long-term thesis on Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) remains intact, Hedge funds tracking the firm are focused on the divergence between the GAAP accounting and actual operational earnings power of the company in Q1 2026. While Exxon reported a GAAP net income of $4.2 billion, impacted by $700 million in settled financial hedge losses from Middle East shipping disruptions, the non-GAAP earnings excluding identified items and derivative timing effects skyrocketed to $8.8 billion, comfortably beating the $7.6 billion generated in Q1 2025. Adjusted EPS came in at $1.16, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by 8.4%.
3. Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)
Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) is another stock that Graham Stephan recommended his followers buy when outlining his view on investing $10,000 in savings for an average American household. Due to the war clouds that have gathered over the Middle East in recent months, this recommendation looks increasingly smart. Lockheed is an aerospace and defense company that engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services in the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and internationally. The company offers combat and air mobility aircraft, unmanned air vehicles, and related technologies.
For Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT), total Q1 2026 revenue was flat year-over-year at $18.02 billion, marginally missing Wall Street estimates of $18.19 billion. However, the segments that hedge funds are most bullish on, like the missiles and advanced missile defense, showed double-digit strength. Missiles and Fire Control sales climbed 8% year-over-year to $3.65 billion, driving a matching 8% increase in operating profit to $500 million. This growth was entirely driven by production ramps across critical global munitions programs, including the PAC-3, JASSM, LRASM, and PrSM tactical strike lines. The Space segment grew 7% to $3.43 billion, powered by massive production spikes on the Fleet Ballistic Missile and Next Generation Interceptor programs.
2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) features on our list of the top stock picks of Graham Stephan because it is a popular holding in the index funds that Stephan often asks his followers to buy and hold. Hedge funds are also bullish on the stock. The primary operational reason investors are buying Microsoft is the sheer velocity of the cloud architecture, which continues to beat Wall Street expectations. In Q3 2026, Microsoft reported total revenue of $82.9 billion, a powerful 18% year-over-year increase that beat analyst projections of $81.29 billion. Microsoft Cloud revenue reached $54.5 billion, expanding 29% year-on-year.
Underpinning this, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Azure and other cloud services grew by an outstanding 40%, proving that corporations are shifting more workloads to the Microsoft ecosystem. Net income jumped 23% to $31.8 billion, delivering a diluted GAAP EPS of $4.27, crushing the consensus estimate of $4.05. CEO Satya Nadella has revealed that Microsoft’s AI business has surpassed a $37 billion Annualized Revenue Run Rate (ARR), skyrocketing 123% year-over-year. Paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats climbed to over 20 million, marking a 33% sequential jump from the 15 million reported just three months prior. Commercial Remaining Performance Obligations surged 99% to $627 billion.
1. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) appears on our list of the top stock picks of Graham Stephan because it is a popular holding in the index funds that Stephan often asks his followers to buy and hold. Institutional investors are echoing Stephan in this regard. Apple posted a record-breaking $111.2 billion in revenue in Q2 2026, marking an impressive 17% year-over-year surge and easily outpacing Wall Street’s $108.92 billion consensus estimate. Net income reached $29.6 billion, translating to a March-quarter record diluted EPS of $2.01, up 22% year-over-year and crushing the $1.93 estimate.
For the first six months of fiscal 2026, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) generated $254.9 billion in total net sales, up 16% compared to the first half of fiscal 2025. iPhone revenue for the quarter alone hit a March-record $57 billion, growing 22% year-over-year. Services revenue hit an all-time record of $31 billion, growing 16% year-over-year. Total company gross margin expanded to 49.3%, strongly supported by the Services segment maintaining a gross margin above 76%. This allows Apple to absorb rising advanced chip manufacturing and memory component costs without eroding bottom-line returns. Apple officially confirmed that its installed base of active devices has crossed an all-time high of 2.5 billion active devices globally.
While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL 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 AAPL and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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