The major indexes are trading near record highs and valuations may be stretched, but industry analysts say dozens of quality stocks are priced for big upside in the next 12 months or so.
True, it's getting harder to spot bargains, what with the benchmark S&P 500 up nearly 40% on a price basis since its early April low. The "growthier" but riskier Nasdaq Composite gained 55% since it bottomed in spring.
That has taken a lot of potential upside out of many of Wall Street's top S&P 500 stocks. But high hopes for fourth-quarter earnings season and rising estimates for corporate profits have the bulls on the move.
Spending on artificial intelligence (AI), a weaker dollar and rising share repurchases are expected to help stocks to a fourth straight year of gains. The fact that the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates at least twice in 2026 bodes especially well for equities.
"We stay overweight U.S. stocks and the AI theme, supported by robust earnings expectations," writes Jean Boivin, head of BlackRock Investment Institute. "Strong corporate earnings, driven in part by the AI theme, are supported by a favorable macro backdrop: continued Federal Reserve easing, broad economic optimism and less policy uncertainty, particularly on the trade front."
The bottom line is that although markets have been a bit choppy lately, the fundamental outlook for equities remains bright.
Analysts still spy big bargains
As long as a company's earnings prospects are rising faster than its share price, its stock can very much look like a bargain, and therefore a potential market beater. To get a sense of where to start digging for such finds, we screened the S&P 500 by implied upside to industry analysts' average price targets.
What we found: 30 stocks in the S&P 500 have implied upside of at least 30% over the next 12 months or so, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
But before we get to the S&P 500 stocks that could rally the most based on price targets, a caveat is in order.
Price targets are a blunt tool when it comes to sussing out cheap stocks. Committing capital based on a single data point is not an investment process.
It's also important to note that stocks with the most upside potential don't necessarily get consensus Buy recommendations from the very same analysts whose models spit out the target prices.
With that warning out of the way, if you're looking for widely traded stocks with the most upside potential, the names listed below aren't a bad place to start.
Company (Ticker) |
Price Target |
Upside to price target |
Consensus recommendation score |
Consensus recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Datadog (DDOG) |
$208.49 |
66% |
1.42 |
Strong Buy |
The Trade Desk (TTD) |
$60.85 |
63% |
2.11 |
Buy |
Super Micro Computer (SMCI) |
$47.71 |
61% |
2.58 |
Hold |
ServiceNow (NOW) |
$221.81 |
57% |
1.38 |
Strong Buy |
GoDaddy (GDDY) |
$176.00 |
55% |
2.06 |
Buy |
Coinbase Global (COIN) |
$357.17 |
48% |
1.85 |
Buy |
Oracle (ORCL) |
$291.08 |
47% |
1.81 |
Buy |
CoStar Group (CSGP) |
$85.71 |
47% |
2.00 |
Buy |
Charter Communications (CHTR) |
$303.82 |
44% |
2.71 |
Hold |
Tyler Technologies (TYL) |
$633.90 |
42% |
1.67 |
Buy |
Netflix (NFLX) |
$125.71 |
41% |
1.95 |
Buy |
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) |
$285.12 |
40% |
1.55 |
Buy |
Vistra (VST) |
$232.30 |
39% |
1.57 |
Buy |
News Corp. (NWSA) |
$36.69 |
39% |
1.75 |
Buy |
Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) |
$82.68 |
38% |
2.69 |
Hold |
Nvidia (NVDA) |
$252.81 |
36% |
1.33 |
Strong Buy |
Dell Technologies (DELL) |
$163.30 |
35% |
1.81 |
Buy |
NRG Energy (NRG) |
$201.96 |
35% |
1.79 |
Buy |
CDW (CDW) |
$180.60 |
35% |
1.82 |
Buy |
T-Mobile U.S. (TMUS) |
$270.62 |
35% |
1.86 |
Buy |
Generac Holdings (GNRC) |
$204.29 |
34% |
1.62 |
Buy |
Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) |
$347.30 |
34% |
1.78 |
Buy |
PG&E (PCG) |
$21.20 |
34% |
1.65 |
Buy |
Crown Castle (CCI) |
$111.50 |
33% |
1.95 |
Buy |
Arista Networks (ANET) |
$163.19 |
33% |
1.50 |
Buy |
Workday (WDAY) |
$274.98 |
33% |
1.74 |
Buy |
American Tower (AMT) |
$222.05 |
33% |
1.83 |
Buy |
Autodesk (ADSK) |
$365.71 |
32% |
1.55 |
Buy |
Broadcom (AVGO) |
$457.73 |
32% |
1.27 |
Strong Buy |
PayPal (PYPL) |
$76.21 |
32% |
2.61 |
Hold |
Data as of January 9, courtesy of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
