5 Broker-Favored Stocks to Keep an Eye on as We Step into 2026

The year 2025 opened amid strong post-election optimism, with investors anticipating a robust upsurge in stock prices. However, those expectations were quickly disrupted as markets came under pressure from the emergence of low-cost artificial intelligence initiatives from China, tariff-related woes, stubbornly high inflation and high interest rates.

From midyear onward, investor sentiment improved as trade tensions gradually eased. The Federal Reserve implemented three interest rate cuts during the year, which helped support market confidence. However, this positive momentum proved short-lived. A prolonged U.S. government shutdown stalled economic activity, while growing concerns over stretched valuations in the AI sector further dampened investor enthusiasm, bringing the year’s earlier gains under renewed scrutiny.

However, this volatile scenario does not mean that investors should shy away from investing in stocks. Designing an appropriate portfolio for healthy returns is not an easy task for individual investors. So what is the way out? One way to do so would be to follow broker advice and keep broker-favorite stocks in one’s watchlist. Bunge Global SA BG, Air Canada ACDVF, Adient ADNT, Arrow Electronics ARW and ChargePoint Holdings CHPT stand out as attractive names to watch. 

As brokers indulge in extensive research on stocks under their coverage, they have access to detailed information on a company. To this end, they attend company conference calls/presentations and scrutinize every piece of document available in the public domain before instructing investors. Given this extensive know-how, brokers are deemed to be experts in the field of investing. They are believed to be equipped with thorough knowledge and a clear insight into the complexities associated with the investment world. Paying heed to such well-researched information is, therefore, desirable for investors to avoid the unfortunate scenario of one’s hard-earned money invested in stock markets going down the drain.

We have designed a screen to shortlist stocks based on improving broker recommendations and upward revisions in earnings estimates over the past four weeks. Also, since the price/sales ratio is a strong complementary valuation metric in the presence of broker information, it has been included. The price/sales ratio takes care of the company’s top line, making the strategy a well-rounded one.

Screening Parameters    

# (Up- Down Rating)/ Total (4 weeks) =Top #75 (This gives the list of top 75 companies that have witnessed net upgrades over the last 4 weeks).

% change in Q (1) est. (4 weeks) = Top #10 (This gives the top 10 stocks that have witnessed earnings estimate revisions over the past 4 weeks for the upcoming quarter).

Price-to-Sales = Bot%10 (The lower the ratio, the better. Companies meeting this criterion are in the bottom 10% of our universe of over 7,700 stocks concerning this ratio).

Current Price greater than 5 (as a stock trading below $5 will not likely create significant interest for most of the investors).

Average Daily Volume greater than 100,000 shares over the last 20 trading days (Volume has to be significant to ensure that these are easily traded).

Market value ($ mil) = Top #3000 (This gives us stocks that are the top 3000 in terms of market capitalization).

Com/ADR/Canadian= Com (This eliminates the ADR and Canadian stocks)

Here are five of the 10 stocks that made it through the screen:

Bunge is an agribusiness and food company worldwide. The company is executing a fundamental transformation anchored by the Viterra merger, expanding global origination, processing scale and logistics efficiency.

Management is prioritizing synergy capture, portfolio optimization and disciplined capital allocation to strengthen cash flows, reduce earnings volatility and enhance long-term returns across agricultural cycles.BG has surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the past four quarters, missing the mark on the other occasion. The average beat is 11.75%. The company currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here

Air Canada has been benefiting from the impressive scenario in air travel demand. Low fuel costs represent another tailwind. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 sales and earnings has increased 7.1% and 98.9%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. 

ACDVF has surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in two of the past four quarters, missing the mark on the other occasions. The average beat is 0.66%. ACDVF currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Adient is one of the world’s largest automotive seating suppliers. Adient has been gaining customers with its broad range of products. A diverse customer base and international presence have helped the company create a strong market position.  Frequent business wins bode well for Adient and should drive growth. 

ADNT beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in two of the trailing four quarters, missing the mark in the other quarters. The average beat is 23.62%. Adient currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3.

New York-based Arrow Electronics is one of the world’s largest distributors of electronic components and enterprise computing products. Arrow’s core strength of providing best-in-class services and easy-to-acquire technologies is expected to bolster growth in the future.

Arrow Electronics has a Zacks Rank #3. ARW has a projected 3-5 year EPS growth rate of 10.7%. The company has an impressive surprise history, with its earnings surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters. The average beat is 14.6%.

ChargePoint is one of the leading players in EV charging, offering a full ecosystem of hardware, software, and services across North America and Europe. Its network connects drivers to more than 1.3 million public and private charging ports worldwide, helping power over 16 billion electric miles. This scale gives ChargePoint a strong position as charging demand grows alongside EV adoption.

On the product side, it recently launched the new ChargePoint Platform, a next-generation software solution that allows operators to monitor station performance, adjust pricing, and respond to customer needs in real time.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CHPT’s fiscal 2026 and 2027 bottom line suggests year-over-year improvement of 32.4% and 35.8%, respectively. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.

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

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