Wall Street spent last Thursday reminding investors how quickly a favorite theme can turn. Worries that Democratic midterm wins could bring tighter rules for artificial intelligence and data centers sent technology stocks sharply lower. The damage spread well beyond the group that was under the microscope.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.52%, its biggest one-day drop in 19 months, and closed more than 10% below its October record, a slide that put it in a correction. The S&P 500 lost 4.36%, its worst drop since the April 2025 tariff shock, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 3.44%. The drop more than erased the previous day’s gain, the market’s best in three months.
Trading was frantic. About 26.9 billion shares changed hands, against a 20-session average of 17.7 billion.
Chip Stocks Take the Heaviest Hit as AI Build-Out Fears Spread
Semiconductor stocks absorbed the worst of it, and the selling was heavy in the other stocks tied to data center spending too. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index dropped more than 12%, and S&P 500 companies lost about $3 trillion in market value in one session. Even so, the S&P 500 was still up 7.4% for the year, and the Nasdaq Composite was still up 4.6%.
“This feels like the capitulation phase for the data center capex beneficiary stocks, especially the semiconductors,” Argent Capital Management portfolio manager Jed Ellerbroek told Reuters. Melissa Brown, global head of investment decision research at SimCorp, said investors were starting to price in the chance that newly elected lawmakers would slow the build-out. Our ranking of oversold AI stocks where Wall Street analysts are spotting 50% or more upside covers more of the group.
Rate Worries and Oil Add Another Layer of Pressure
The selling landed on top of a tightening cycle. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin both hinted at possible future rate hikes. Traders expected the Federal Reserve to raise rates again next month after a September increase.
Energy prices added to the strain. Brent crude rose 3.9% to $98.29 a barrel, while the 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.83% from 4.90%. Readers who follow analyst calls on value can find more ideas in our list of affordable stocks that Wall Street analysts like.
Overseas, the Bank of England raised its main rate for the first time in three years. Governor Andrew Bailey said, “The best thing that can happen is to resolve the conflict in the Middle East; there’s no question about it.”
Photo by Arturo Añez on Unsplash
Our Methodology
To compile this list, we reviewed analyst rating upgrades announced on Monday, November 9, 2026, as reported by financial news sites. From the stocks that came up, we picked the 10 with the highest average upside potential, as of November 9, 2026, and ranked them in ascending order of this metric. We also list each stock’s number of hedge fund holders as of Q2 2026, from our database of 1,006 hedge funds.
At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with what hedge funds do. 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. Insider Monkey’s quarterly newsletter strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 612% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 375 percentage points (see more details here).
10 Stocks Analysts Just Upgraded
10. Rollins (NYSE:ROL)
Market Cap: $18.39 billion
Average Upside Potential: -1%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 63
Citi analyst Marc Van’t Sant upgraded Rollins to Buy from Neutral on Monday, November 9, and raised his price target to $49 from $32. Bulls on the stock argue the recent slowdown is a lead-generation problem the company can fix rather than a sign of weaker demand.
Rollins provides pest control services to homes and businesses, mostly under recurring service plans, with Orkin as its flagship brand. Third-quarter organic growth was 4.4%, and the company lowered its 2026 organic growth forecast to a range of 4% to 6%. Management attributes the shortfall to AI-driven search, which sends fewer leads to large brand websites.
Management is responding by publishing prices and same-day service windows so AI tools surface them, and by buying ads on ChatGPT and Google. Declines in organic website traffic narrowed in September, though a similar improvement earlier this year did not last. Management says it has seen no meaningful increase in cancellations, and it expects organic growth to return to 7% to 8% over time.
Bears point to the lower profit margin as the cost of the shift. Our piece on whether repeat customers still justify a premium for Rollins weighs that debate.
9. Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB)
Market Cap: $114.08 billion
Average Upside Potential: 6%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 75
Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Airbnb to Neutral from Sell on Monday, November 9, and set a $190 price target. The firm said its cautious stance “proved correct over a six-year period but wrong over the past year.”
Airbnb runs an online marketplace where travelers book stays and experiences from independent hosts. Redburn says growth in nights booked failed to outpace Booking and Expedia for two years as Airbnb’s core markets matured, and that heavy marketing spending left earnings growth behind peers. It adds that it missed early signs of a turnaround and attributed a gap in booking growth to one-off factors.
Third-quarter results changed its view. Redburn says room-night growth showed the underlying business accelerating, and that stronger growth “better supports Airbnb’s premium valuation.” Airbnb reported revenue of $4.9 billion, up 19%, with nights and seats booked up 16%. It raised its full-year outlook to revenue growth in the high teens and authorized an additional $12 billion in share repurchases.
8. Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY)
Market Cap: $115.23 billion
Average Upside Potential: 8%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 35
BNP Paribas upgraded Sanofi to Outperform from Neutral on Monday, November 9. Bulls on the stock point to Dupixent’s growth, a widening product base, and rising profit through 2030, all outlined on the company’s third-quarter call.
Sanofi makes prescription medicines and vaccines. Dupixent, its treatment for eczema, asthma, and other inflammatory conditions, sold €5.7 billion in the quarter, up 34.8%, and management says the growth was mainly driven by demand. Sanofi says advanced therapies still reach only about 20% of eczema patients, which leaves room to grow. It raised its 2026 outlook, and its finance chief expects operating profit to rise every year through 2030.
Newer medicines and vaccines are growing as well. Management calls planning for Dupixent’s eventual loss of patent protection its top priority. To that end, Sanofi has expanded its alliance with Regeneron to develop next-generation antibodies, and it expects 2027 data from several mid-stage and late-stage programs.
Bears point to falling vaccine sales, a slightly negative price effect expected in 2027, and the discontinuation of two experimental drugs, amlitelimab and itepekimab. Divestments will also reduce 2027 sales by about €1.3 billion.
7. South Bow (NYSE:SOBO)
Market Cap: $6.73 billion
Average Upside Potential: 10%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 18
TD Cowen analyst Aaron MacNeil upgraded South Bow to Buy from Hold on Monday, November 9, with a C$51 price target. MacNeil’s reasoning is valuation and income: the stock has fallen sharply from its July highs, and its dividend yield of about 6.4% is the highest among the Canadian midstream companies he covers.
South Bow operates crude oil pipelines, including the Keystone system. About 90% of its cash flow is contracted, which limits exposure to oil price swings. In the third quarter, net debt to normalized EBITDA fell to 4.3 times, and TD Cowen expects it to move toward 4.0 times. The firm also sees upside from the proposed Prairie Connector pipeline.
That project carries timing risk. South Bow does not expect a final investment decision on the Prairie Connector or the Liberty Bridge pipeline until the middle of next year, and it says both depend on regulatory certainty and durable permits. The company also expects lower distributable cash flow next year, mainly because of higher income taxes.
Our look at South Bow’s role in the oil patch explains how the company earns money when crude gets volatile.
6. SAP (NYSE:SAP)
Market Cap: $268.87 billion
Average Upside Potential: 18%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 35
JPMorgan analyst Toby Ogg upgraded SAP to Overweight from Neutral on Monday, November 9, and raised his price target to €275 from €175. Ogg argues that SAP is “no longer priced for AI disruption.”
SAP sells business software that large companies use to run finance, supply chains, and workforces, and it is moving customers from self-installed software to cloud subscriptions. The concern weighing on the shares was that artificial intelligence could erode that franchise. Ogg’s view is the reverse: as companies move AI from pilots to production, established systems of record like SAP’s benefit.
He cites cloud backlog, which tracks cloud business already contracted with customers, as evidence. It has beaten expectations for three straight quarters and reached €24.14 billion in the third quarter, up 28%. Ogg also expects AI-driven efficiencies to support margins. The target is set for December 2028 and assumes about 24 times forward earnings.
SAP has said it expects 2026 cloud revenue toward the upper end of its €25.8 billion to €26.2 billion range. Our piece on whether AI can deepen SAP’s enterprise moat without hurting margins examines the question at the center of Ogg’s call.
5. Unum (NYSE:UNM)
Market Cap: $12.35 billion
Average Upside Potential: 21%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 51
JPMorgan upgraded Unum to Overweight from Neutral on Monday, November 9, and lowered its price target to $90 from $98. The firm sees the risk and reward as attractive even on lower earnings estimates, and it points to stable employment and wage trends as support for disability and group benefits demand.
Unum sells disability insurance and other benefits through employers, so its premiums track employment and pay. Core premiums grew 4.7% in the third quarter on a constant-currency basis, and the company repurchased $202.0 million of its stock.
The lower estimates reflect weakness in group long-term disability. The benefit ratio, which measures claims paid as a share of premiums, rose to 67.1% from 47.8% a year earlier, and adjusted operating income per share fell to $2.20 from $2.81. Unum also introduced a new 2026 outlook definition that includes annual reserve updates, so it is not directly comparable with earlier guidance.
The pace at which disability claims normalize will determine how much of the earnings decline reverses. Bulls expect claims to stabilize while premiums keep growing, and the lower target shows JPMorgan still factors in the claims risk.
4. AMD (NASDAQ:AMD)
Market Cap: $828.86 billion
Average Upside Potential: 29%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 164
Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer upgraded AMD to Outperform from Perform on Monday, November 9, and set a $600 price target. Schafer’s thesis is that AI data center demand has further to run and AMD’s product cycle is positioned to capture it. “AMD’s server CPU and DCAI success is undeniable,” he wrote.
AMD designs processors and graphics chips for servers and AI data centers. Data center revenue nearly doubled in the third quarter, led by EPYC server chips, the first MI455 AI chip shipments, and Helios server racks. Schafer expects data center sales to rise 135% next year, with AI chips overtaking server processors in 2027.
He expects OpenAI and Meta to drive near-term AI chip growth, with Anthropic ramping soon after, and he projects capital spending by the five largest cloud providers to reach about $1.3 trillion in 2027. On last week’s worries over midterm politics and data centers, he wrote that he sees such risk as unlikely before the second half of 2028.
AMD says supply remains tight, and it expects a lower gross margin in the fourth quarter. Our take on how AMD’s premium valuation puts its execution under the microscope looks at what that valuation requires.
3. Fox (NASDAQ:FOX)
Market Cap: $26.81 billion
Average Upside Potential: 36%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 39
Seaport Global upgraded Fox to Buy from Neutral on Monday, November 9, with a $76 price target. The firm’s reasoning centers on Fox’s early closing of its Roku acquisition, which it says “fundamentally redefines Fox as a media business.”
Fox owns Fox News, the Fox broadcast network, Fox Sports, and the free streaming service Tubi. Seaport expects Roku to add significant operating income and free cash flow, and to make Fox less cyclical than a business built on news and sports. It also prefers the single-vote FOX shares, which trade at about an 11% discount to the no-vote FOXA shares.
The deal follows a record fiscal first quarter, in which revenue rose 22% to $4.57 billion and advertising revenue rose 47%, helped by sports, including the World Cup. Tubi’s streaming advertising added to digital growth, while higher sports rights costs and lower news digital advertising offset part of the gain.
Fox’s advertising mix is the main variable going forward, since the World Cup lift will not repeat. Our look at the Justice Department review of the Roku deal covers the regulatory background.
2. Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE)
Market Cap: $50.00 billion
Average Upside Potential: 48%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42
Gerdes Energy Research upgraded Cenovus Energy to Buy from Neutral on Monday, November 9, and maintained its C$53 price target. The firm’s argument is valuation: the shares have fallen about 19% since mid-September, which Gerdes considers an overcorrection.
Cenovus produces oil and gas and operates refineries, so it earns money at several points along the energy chain. In the third quarter it set a company record for production and cut net debt by C$2.4 billion.
Gerdes also likes the Athabasca Oil acquisition, which is expected to close next month. It models the acquired assets at about 45,000 barrels a day initially, rising to roughly 115,000 barrels a day of thermal oil by 2032. The deal adds to a position in the oil sands where Cenovus is already among the larger producers. On Monday, Cenovus also announced a renewal of its normal course issuer bid, the program that lets it keep repurchasing shares.
Oil prices remain the main driver of cash flow. Our look at Cenovus entering the ranks of the world’s largest oil and gas producers traces how the company reached that position.
1. Cameco (NYSE:CCJ)
Market Cap: $32.53 billion
Average Upside Potential: 56%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 75
Paradigm Capital analyst Gordon Lawson upgraded Cameco to Buy from Hold on Monday, November 9, and lowered his price target to C$130 from C$150. Bulls on the stock point to the company’s stake in Westinghouse and a growing pipeline of new reactor projects.
Cameco mines uranium for nuclear power plants and owns 49% of Westinghouse, the reactor maker it bought together with Brookfield. Uranium earnings move with the price of the metal, while Westinghouse earns steadier income from fuel, parts, and servicing of operating reactors. Chief Executive Officer Tim Gitzel said each new AP1000 reactor “expands an installed base that requires decades of fuel, services, and maintenance.”
Recent news supports that view. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission now allows the AP1000 design to operate through 2066, a Kentucky developer has said it wants up to six AP1000 reactors, and a non-binding U.S.–South Korea framework anticipates further new builds. Management also says it will not chase uranium contracts for volume alone.
Third-quarter results were weaker, with a maintenance shutdown at the Key Lake mill raising costs. Our analysis of Cameco ahead of the Westinghouse IPO covers the stake in more detail.
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