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Buy Alert: 10 Stocks Analysts Upgraded on Thursday

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Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings season is nearly over, and the profit numbers are large. With about 88% of S&P 500 companies reported as of November 10, earnings are tracking 31.4% above a year earlier, according to FactSet. That would be the third straight quarter of growth above 25%.

On November 10, inflation took over the conversation, and the Federal Reserve’s next move moved to the center of it.

Hot Inflation Revives Rate Hike Fears

The Labor Department said on November 10 that consumer prices rose 0.4% in October, above the 0.3% economists had forecast and the third straight monthly gain of 0.4% or more. Core prices, which leave out food and energy, rose 0.3% against a forecast of 0.2%. Prices for services other than housing climbed 0.5%, the biggest jump since May.

Federal Reserve officials did little to calm the market. Governor Christopher Waller said the central bank should raise rates by a quarter point in December even if inflation had cooled, and should consider a half-point move if price pressures worsen. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said the Fed needs at least two more quarter-point increases to bring inflation down.

Edward Jones senior economist James McCann said, “There are some fears that underlying price pressures are starting to build again.” Traders saw almost a 99% chance of a December increase, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Our ranking of affordable stocks Wall Street analysts like best looks at the analyst side of the market.

Strong Profits Meet a Firmer Fed

Stocks gave back ground after the report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.30% to 52,231.89 on November 10, the S&P 500 lost 0.38% to 7,520.93, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.74% to 25,065.87.

Trading stayed choppy on November 12. The S&P 500 slipped 0.35% to 7,592.40 as Treasury yields climbed, and an index of semiconductor stocks fell 0.5%.

Economists disagree on how far the Fed will go. Thomas Ryan of Capital Economics said the broad rise in core prices should all but confirm a December hike, and he flagged the risk of a half-point move. Deutsche Bank chief economist Matt Luzzetti expects quarter-point hikes in December, January and March, and sees a half-point move as possible.

Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research at Glenmede, warned that rates may stay at or above current levels well into 2027. Some analysts’ reading of the pullback appears in our list of oversold AI stocks with 50%+ upside.

Luzzetti also warned that a tech sell-off or wider credit spreads could push the Fed to pause.

Photo by Mizuno K on pexels

Our Methodology

To compile this list, we reviewed analyst rating upgrades announced on Thursday, November 12, 2026. We have ranked these stocks in ascending order of their average upside potential, based on analysts’ average price target, as of November 12. 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).

Buy Alert: 10 Stocks Analysts Upgraded on Thursday

10. Republic Services (NYSE:RSG)

Average Upside Potential: 2%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 58

Argus upgraded Republic Services to Buy from Hold on November 12 and set a price target of $275, pointing to faster expected growth. Republic collects, transfers, recycles, and disposes of non-hazardous solid waste, and it runs an environmental solutions business that handles more specialized waste.

The company reported third-quarter 2026 results on October 29. Revenue rose 8.2% from a year earlier. Higher prices added 5.3% to revenue, while lower volume took off 0.6%. Earnings were $1.93 per diluted share, up from a year earlier, and adjusted earnings rose as well. Republic also spent on acquisitions throughout the first nine months of 2026. Organic growth in recycling and waste led the gain, with acquisitions and environmental solutions adding smaller amounts.

Chief Executive Officer Jon Vander Ark said the third quarter of 2026 “underscored the resilience of our business model.” In short, the company is growing by raising prices while hauling slightly less waste. The board authorized a $5 billion share repurchase program, effective January 1, 2027, and running through December 31, 2029, and Republic raised its full-year guidance.

Read our analysis on Republic Services (RSG) here: Republic Services is winning on price while volumes slip

9. Reliance (NYSE:RS)

Average Upside Potential: 3%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 41

Barclays moved Reliance up to Overweight from Equal Weight on November 12 and raised its price target to $507 from $445. The firm cited expectations for continued benefits from tight supply and strong demand, and it said a border wall contract with the U.S. government should help Reliance grow volumes ahead of the market in 2027. Reliance runs metal service centers that stock and process carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, titanium, and other metals.

Reliance reported results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026, on October 21. It earned $8.02 per diluted share on a non-GAAP basis, well above the range it had guided to. Net sales reached a record $5.21 billion, and tons sold rose 4.3% from the second quarter of 2026 to a record as well.

Chief Executive Officer Karla Lewis said healthy demand and tight supply lifted prices for most carbon steel products. She said the Department of Homeland Security border wall contract, awarded earlier in 2026, kept ramping up and added meaningfully to earnings. Customer optimism improved across infrastructure, semiconductor, general manufacturing, and aerospace work, she added. Reliance also raised its share repurchase program to $2.5 billion.

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