In this piece, we look at the 20 Best Stocks to Buy Right Now.

As 2026 unfolds, global markets stand at a crossroads. A dense mix of geopolitical risk, political uncertainty, and powerful structural tailwinds is a key feature of today’s environment, making stock selection more critical than ever for investors seeking the best stocks to buy right now. On January 6, 2026, Reuters reported that investors are navigating a backdrop marked by the U.S. midterm elections, a crucial change in Federal Reserve leadership, and divergent global monetary policies.

Meanwhile, equities in the U.S., Europe, and Japan are projected to climb in 2026, although gains are expected to be smaller compared to the previous year. Reuters’ November 2025 poll showed that over half of market participants expect a correction in 2026. Participants remain wary of stretched AI-driven valuations, which could face pressure as skepticism increases over returns on massive capital spending.

Meanwhile, appearing on Prof G Markets, Fundstrat’s Tom Lee issued a more constructive long-term view in the previous month, arguing that recent “black swan” events, including COVID-19, historic rate hikes, and geopolitical shocks, have hurt investor sentiment. According to him, these events have created a “wall of worry” that markets have historically climbed. Accordingly, he views skepticism, potential pullbacks, and even a “miniature bear market” as normal pauses rather than signs that the bull cycle is ending. Furthermore, he does not see the AI boom as economic destruction. Framing it as a response to a long-term labor shortage, he suggests that the AI sector can still drive overall gains, even if some stocks may underperform.

With this context in mind, we will move to our list of the best stocks to buy right now.

Our Methodology

To curate our list of the best stocks to buy right now, we picked out the top 40 hedge fund holdings, using Insider Monkey’s database, which tracks 978 stocks as of Q3 2025. Next, we assessed analyst sentiment on these stocks and selected those with the best upside. Finally, we ranked the list in ascending order based on the upside potential as of the market open on January 12, 2026.

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 427.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 264 percentage points (see more details here).

20. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 273

Upside Potential: 26.30%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is one of the best stocks to buy right now.

On January 12, 2026, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) saw Wells Fargo lower its price target from $802 to $795, while reiterating an ‘Overweight’ rating. The update comes as a valuation reset rather than a shift in fundamentals. The firm remains optimistic about Q4 earnings and the 2026 outlook, reiterating its confidence in $31- $32 EPS for 2026, TheFly reported. Furthermore, Wells Fargo believes Street CapEx estimates will likely go up as the company makes further progress in scaling AI infrastructure.

Looking ahead, the firm projects growth to accelerate with the next-generation Llama model release, expected in the first half of the year, and the rollout of associated AI-driven products. These factors will help offset the company’s short-term spending concerns, while re-anchoring its long-term growth expectations, according to Wells Fargo.

Meanwhile, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) reinforced analyst confidence on January 9, 2026, disclosing 20-year power purchase agreements with Vistra for electricity from three U.S. nuclear plants. Including facilities in Ohio and Pennsylvania, the deals reflect the translation of rising AI and data center demand into long-term duration, baseload power commitments.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) focuses on developing social media and immersive technologies through its Family of Apps and Reality Labs segments. The company operates Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and virtual and augmented reality platforms globally.

19. Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 102

Upside Potential: 28.00%

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) is included in our list of the best stocks to buy right now.

On January 12, 2026, Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) shared an expansion update, announcing a definitive agreement to acquire Valencia Technologies. With this move, the company expands its Urology franchise into implantable tibial nerve stimulation (ITNS) with the FDA-approved eCoin System. The deal focuses on overactive bladder, a large and underpenetrated market, consisting of nearly 30 million U.S. adults over 40 experiencing bothersome symptoms. However, only 19% of those adults receive treatment beyond lifestyle adjustments.

eCoin features a coin-sized, minimally invasive implant, which broadens the company’s pelvic health continuum and complements existing neuromodulation and urology offerings. At the same time, it addresses patients who are refractory to or intolerant of conservative therapies. Meanwhile, clinical validation strengthens the case for Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX), with 68% of patients in the pivotal trial recording at least a 50% reduction in urge urinary incontinence episodes. Management remains confident due to the high-growth adjacency feature of ITNS, which reinforces the company’s organic growth potential rather than a short-term earnings boost.

Separately, on January 9, 2026, Goldman Sachs shared an update, lowering its price target on Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) from $124 to $112, while reiterating a ‘Buy’ rating. The firm expects investor attention to refocus on organic growth in 2026, as valuations and fundamentals normalize, according to TheFly.

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) is focused on developing and marketing interventional medical devices across the MedSurg and Cardiovascular segments.

18. MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 109

Upside Potential: 28.50%

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is one of the best stocks to buy right now.

As of January 12, 2026, over 90% of analysts are bullish on MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI), setting a consensus price target of $2,800. This translates into an upside potential of 28.50%.

On January 8, 2025, Cantor Fitzgerald issued a more constructive sector outlook, arguing that global internet stocks are stepping into a golden age of AI synergy over the next one to two years, with AI shifting from experimentation to monetization. In 2025, the sector outperformed the Nasdaq by roughly nine points. However, the firm noted that the group still trades roughly 20% below medium-term valuation ranges. Among large-cap internet stocks, Cantor Fitzgerald named MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) as one of the stocks that hold potential to accelerate revenue growth driven by tapping into AI-enabled efficiencies and platform scale.

Broader analyst commentaries remain supportive but selective. Another investment firm, Wedbush, reduced its price target on MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) from $2,800 to $2,700, while reiterating an ‘Outperform’ rating on December 19, 2025. The firm cited higher 2026 spending associated with logistics and marketing, while also keeping an eye on loan-book expansion. The firm also remains cautious on underlying demand trends and competition across core markets, according to TheFly.

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is known for running Latin America’s leading e-commerce and fintech ecosystem. It enables digital commerce, payments, logistics, and credit across multiple countries.

17. Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 143

Upside Potential: 28.70%

Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) is included in our list of the best stocks to buy right now.

On January 12, 2026, Reuters reported that Jaylynn Dean filed a lawsuit against Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER), placing the company on trial in Phoenix, Arizona. Dean alleges that she was sexually assaulted by a driver booked via the platform in 2023. Following over 3,000 federal lawsuits consolidated for similar claims and more than 500 additional cases in California state courts, this case comes out as the first “bellwether” trial. Thus, the trial’s outcome could significantly influence the company’s financial exposure and regulatory standing, with a negative outcome establishing a benchmark for settlement values in the remaining cases.

Dean claims that Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) failed to act on repeated reports of assaults and did not implement sufficient safety measures. Management, however, states that drivers are independent contractors. At the same time, management asserted that background checks and disclosures mitigate liability. Meanwhile, Uber highlighted its ongoing spending on rider safety, including in-app ride verification, audio/video ride recording, anomaly detection, and partnerships with advocacy groups.

Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) runs a global technology platform that connects consumers with mobility, delivery, and freight services.

16. Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 102

Upside Potential: 29.40%

Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) is one of the best stocks to buy right now.

On January 8, 2026, Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) announced its acquisition of Observe, a leader in AI-powered observability. The move marks a strategic expansion of the company’s AI Data Cloud, enabling enterprises to combine telemetry and business data and apply analytics and agentic AI to troubleshoot systems up to ten times faster. Observe helps companies detect anomalies early and fix production issues efficiently, thanks to its AI Site Reliability Engineer (SRE), which integrates logs, metrics, and traces into a unified context graph.

Furthermore, the platform is built on open standards like Apache Iceberg and OpenTelemetry. This feature allows the platform to support large-scale, cost-effective retention of telemetry data, addressing a growing need as AI-driven applications generate unprecedented data volumes. Management hailed the move, citing the $51.7 billion IT operations management market that it plans to address.

Meanwhile, analyst sentiment surrounding Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) remains mixed, with Barclays downgrading the stock to an ‘Equal Weight’ on January 12. The firm cited the 42% rally in 2025, describing the current valuation as stretched. On the other hand, Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the stock on January 12 with a ‘Buy’ rating and $286 price target, pointing out AI adoption and data platform modernization as key long-term growth catalysts.

Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) is focused on providing cloud-native data warehousing through its Data Cloud. It enables secure, scalable AI, analytics, and data applications development across storage, compute, and cloud services globally.