Buy 5 Big Data Behemoths to Strengthen Your Portfolio Returns in 2026

Big Data refers to a vast and diverse collection of structured, unstructured and semi-structured data that inundates businesses on a day-to-day basis. The big data space focuses on companies that process, store and analyze data, and provide data mining, transformation, visualization and predictive analytics tools.

Here, we have selected five such companies — NVIDIA Corp. NVDA, Dell Technologies Inc. DELL, Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR, Fair Isaac Corp. FICO and Guidewire Software Inc. GWRE. Each of our picks currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Utility of Big Data

Big Data is utilized in advanced analytics applications like predictive modeling and machine learning to solve business problems and make informed decisions. The latest high-end digital mobility advancements, including the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), have led to rapid growth in data. Consequently, new big data tools have emerged to collect, process, and analyze data to derive maximum value out of it.

Big data offers corporations better decision-making and risk-management abilities. It has also increased agility and innovation, making operations more efficient and effective in improving customer experiences. 

The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks in the past three months.

NVIDIA Corp.

NVIDIA — the undisputed global leader of generative artificial intelligence (AI)-powered graphical processing units (GPUs) — has been benefiting from the booming data center business, which continues to power the company’s growth amid the global buildout of AI infrastructure. This massive demand is fueled by strong demand from hyperscalers, AI model developers and enterprise customers expanding their AI infrastructure.

The ongoing ramp-up of the Blackwell architecture is central to NVDA’s momentum. The GB300 systems, which offer higher performance and improved energy efficiency compared to the previous Hopper generation, are now being shipped in large volumes. 

Customers are using these systems to support complex AI workloads, from large language models to real-time inference. NVDA reaffirmed its commitment to continued innovation, evolution and execution. NVDA’s full-stack approach, which combines GPUs, networking and software, continues to make it the preferred partner for large-scale AI projects.

NVIDIA has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 33% and 40%, respectively, for next year (ending January 2027). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next year’s earnings has improved 0.6% over the last 30 days. 

The short-term average price target of brokerage firms for the stock represents an increase of 20.8% from the last closing price of $193.80. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $100-$350. This indicates a maximum upside of 80.6% and a downside of 48.4%.

Dell Technologies Inc.

Dell Technologies has been benefiting from strong demand for AI servers driven by ongoing digital transformation and heightened interest in generative AI applications. In the last reported quarter, DELL secured $8.2 billion in AI server orders, surpassing shipments and building a strong backlog. 

DELL’s PowerEdge XE9680L AI-optimized server is in high demand. Strong enterprise demand for AI-optimized servers is aiding the company. A robust partner base, which includes the likes of NVIDIA, Alphabet and Microsoft has been a major growth driver. 

DELL is expanding its cloud services through its infrastructure solutions and rich partner base that provides essential hardware and services that support cloud environments. Through its APEX platform, DELL provides multi-cloud solutions and advanced AI infrastructure, which have become the key highlights of its offerings.

Dell Technologies has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 7% and 18.4%, respectively, for next year (ending January 2027). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next year’s earnings has improved 1.2% over the last 30 days. 

The short-term average price target of brokerage firms for the stock represents an increase of 17.9% from the last closing price of $140.71. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $130-$200. This indicates a maximum upside of 42.1% and a downside of 7.6%.

Palantir Technologies Inc. 

Palantir Technologies’ AI strategy is comprehensive, combining its proprietary Foundry and Gotham platforms with a solid plan to promote AI adoption across both government and commercial sectors. PLTR’s AI Platform (AIP) is the backbone of these capabilities, enabling organizations to process large datasets and derive real-time insights. This is especially valuable in sectors requiring extensive data integration, such as defense, healthcare, finance and intelligence, where operational efficiency and decision-making speed are critical. 

In the government sector, PLTR is aligning its AI strategy with U.S. defense priorities. Its work in high-profile initiatives, such as the Department of Defense’s Open DAGIR project, highlight its ability to modernize military operations through AI-driven solutions where data interoperability and real-time decision-making capabilities are imperative. These capabilities solidify PLTR’s position as a key player in the defense sector. 

In the commercial space, PLTR’s AIP boot camps — providing hands-on experience to over 1,000 companies — have proven instrumental in customer acquisition. Boot camps showcase the platform’s capabilities and demonstrate its adaptability across logistics, manufacturing, and supply chain management. Palantir’s core customer base comprises businesses seeking tailored AI/ML services, particularly large government and corporate clients willing to invest heavily in its systems.

AIP provides unified access to open-source, self-hosted, and commercial large language models (LLMs) that can transform structured and unstructured data into LLM-understandable objects and turn organizations' actions and processes into tools for humans and LLM-driven agents. This shift in the revenue structure has enabled PLTR to no longer depend on government defense agencies. 

Palantir Technologies has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 41.1% and 43%, respectively, for next year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for next year’s earnings has improved 20.9% in the last 30 days.

The short-term average price target of brokerage firms for the stock represents an increase of 4.6% from the last closing price of $184.17. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $50-$255. This indicates a maximum upside of 38.5% and a downside of 72.9%.

Fair Isaac Corp.

Fair Isaac is benefiting from strong financial performance driven by robust growth in its Scores and Software segments. FICO has expanded its scoring models to incorporate ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ loan data, enhancing the predictive accuracy of FICO scores. 

Advancements in credit modeling, including the development of FICO Score 10T for non-GSE mortgages, present significant growth opportunities. The Software segment has demonstrated strength, with increased adoption of SaaS and license revenues indicating strong platform engagement. FICO's Lenders Leading Inclusion Program supports lenders in making better decisions.

Fair Isaac has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 19.7% and 31.3%, respectively, for the current year (ending September 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 3.6% in the last 30 days. 

The short-term average price target of brokerage firms for the stock represents an increase of 12% from the last closing price of $1,777.91. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $1,047 to $2,400. This indicates a maximum upside of 35% and a downside of 41.1%.

Guidewire Software Inc.

Guidewire Software is benefiting from the momentum of Guidewire Cloud, which continued into the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. GWRE won 19 deals for its cloud platform, including nine with Tier 1 insurers. The 10-year Liberty Mutual deal, which is a key Tier 1 insurer, was highlighted by management as a milestone moment. 

GWRE is well-positioned to gain from deal wins momentum, especially among Tier 1 & Tier 2 insurers, healthy traction in the international belt and a durable subscription-driven revenue growth model. The Quantee buyout and traction for the Guidewire Industry Intelligence solution bode well. GWRE expects ARR to be $1.21-$1.22 billion. Increasing cloud infrastructure platform efficiency is cushioning its margins.

Guidewire Software has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 16.3% and 12.8%, respectively, for the current year (ending July 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.7% in the last 60 days. 

The short-term average price target of brokerage firms for the stock represents an increase of 24.5% from the last closing price of $200.97. The brokerage target price is currently in the range of $160 to $305. This indicates a maximum upside of 51.8% and a downside of 20.4%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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