University of Kwazulu-Natal

3 Top Value Stocks To Buy And Hold For 2026

Bonisiwe Shabane
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3 top value stocks to buy and hold for 2026

No matter what happens in the next few weeks, the bull case for Wall Street remains intact for 2026. Investors should be optimistic heading into next year because earnings are projected to grow significantly, and the Fed is expected to keep lowering interest rates. That said, some investors might not want to chase technology stocks and AI names right now. Wall Street could start rotating into other pockets of the market to begin 2026 after a blockbuster few years for the AI trade. Amid growing AI bubble talk, some investors might want to consider buying value stocks. Let’s explore how investors can screen for the best Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) value stocks to buy in 2026.

The screen we are digging into today comes loaded with the Research Wizard and aims to sort through highly-ranked Zacks stocks to find some of the top value names. No matter what happens in the next few weeks, the bull case for Wall Street remains intact for 2026. Investors should be optimistic heading into next year because earnings are projected to grow significantly, and the Fed is expected to keep lowering interest rates. That said, some investors might not want to chase technology stocks and AI names right now. Wall Street could start rotating into other pockets of the market to begin 2026 after a blockbuster few years for the AI trade. Amid growing AI bubble talk, some investors might want to consider buying value stocks.

Let’s explore how investors can screen for the best Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) value stocks to buy in 2026. The screen we are digging into today comes loaded with the Research Wizard and aims to sort through highly-ranked Zacks stocks to find some of the top value names. Picking the best stocks 2026 requires more thought than simply buying stocks that are popular and often in news titles. The market environment heading into 2025 is influenced by three powerful forces operating simultaneously: artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly relevant in real-world business, interest rates are likely to remain higher than the average of... This combination favors companies with robust competitive advantages, not short-term hype. The best stocks 2026 investors will be those that can grow earnings even if economic growth slows, rates stay elevated, or capital becomes selective.

Below, we will focus on stocks with the best potential in 2026, backed by real-world revenue, profit margins, and long-term demand. We will analyze true potential stocks without hype, as this is how every serious enough investor should approach stock markets in 2026. The list of the best stocks to buy in 2026 was developed by following three main criteria: clear long-term potential (AI, healthcare innovation, digital infrastructure, etc.), strong and improving free cash flow (loans are... There are also some other minor criteria to ensure this list contains very robust companies across diverse industries, ensuring diversification. To ensure only serious picks with long-term potential, we avoided: Our goal here is not to predict anything, but rather to put emphasis on projects with robust business revenue and products or services, ensuring only triple-A investment stocks are picked.

AI is the main trend of this year. It is transforming how companies build software, run operations, manage big data, and compete with one another. However, not every company that incorporates AI into its name will benefit, as most of these companies are merely hype and do not possess a genuine competitive advantage. The biggest winners in this sector are companies selling infrastructure, compute, and critical tools, rather than applications and empty promises. Each year, we ask an expert to pick 10 stocks that have the potential to beat the market over the next 12 months. Here are his choices for 2026.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. For more than 30 years, I have offered an annual list of 10 stock picks with the potential to beat the market in the 12 months ahead. My selections for 2024 notched the highest return ever, but my choices for 2025 flamed out. They scored an average of a mere 5.9%, compared with 21.5% for the benchmark S&P 500 Index. Six out of 10 stocks fell, four by more than 20% each.

What hurt me most? Not having any of the mega-capitalization tech stocks that provided the lift for the S&P 500. I correct the oversight this time around. I am still ahead of the game by about three percentage points over the past 10 years, but mean reversion is dragging me down to the index, which is what is supposed to happen... Following tradition, I have chosen nine stocks for 2026 from the broader choices of experts that I trust, and I include one of my own. No matter what happens in the next few weeks, the bull case for Wall Street remains intact for 2026.

Investors should be optimistic heading into next year because earnings are projected to grow significantly, and the Fed is expected to keep lowering interest rates. That said, some investors might not want to chase technology stocks and AI names right now. Wall Street could start rotating into other pockets of the market to begin 2026 after a blockbuster few years for the AI trade. Amid growing AI bubble talk, some investors might want to consider buying value stocks. Let’s explore how investors can screen for the best Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) value stocks to buy in 2026. The screen we are digging into today comes loaded with the Research Wizard and aims to sort through highly-ranked Zacks stocks to find some of the top value names.

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No matter what happens in the next few weeks, the bull case for Wall Street remains intact for 2026. Investors should be optimistic heading into next year because earnings are projected to grow significantly, and the Fed is expected to keep lowering interest rates. That said, some investors might not want to chase technology stocks and AI names right now. Wall Street could start rotating into othe...

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The screen we are digging into today comes loaded with the Research Wizard and aims to sort through highly-ranked Zacks stocks to find some of the top value names. No matter what happens in the next few weeks, the bull case for Wall Street remains intact for 2026. Investors should be optimistic heading into next year because earnings are projected to grow significantly, and the Fed is expected to ...

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Let’s explore how investors can screen for the best Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) value stocks to buy in 2026. The screen we are digging into today comes loaded with the Research Wizard and aims to sort through highly-ranked Zacks stocks to find some of the top value names. Picking the best stocks 2026 requires more thought than simply buying stocks that are popular and often in news titles. The mark...

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Below, we will focus on stocks with the best potential in 2026, backed by real-world revenue, profit margins, and long-term demand. We will analyze true potential stocks without hype, as this is how every serious enough investor should approach stock markets in 2026. The list of the best stocks to buy in 2026 was developed by following three main criteria: clear long-term potential (AI, healthcare...

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AI is the main trend of this year. It is transforming how companies build software, run operations, manage big data, and compete with one another. However, not every company that incorporates AI into its name will benefit, as most of these companies are merely hype and do not possess a genuine competitive advantage. The biggest winners in this sector are companies selling infrastructure, compute, ...