Buy 5 High-Flying Old Economy Stocks of 2025 for Solid Near-Term Gains

The artificial intelligence (AI)-driven, astonishing bull run of 2023 and 2024 continued in 2025, too. Meanwhile, market participants have other sectors to look into. Several old economy stocks from sectors such as industrials, finance, auto, materials and construction have surged in the past year. 

Investing in these stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank should lead to profits in 2026. These old-economy stocks have transformed the ongoing rally into a broad-based one with huge opportunities for portfolio diversification. 

Here, we have narrowed our search to five old-economy stocks that have rallied more than 30% in the past month. Yet, their current favorable Zacks Rank indicates more upside potential in 2026. These are:  Wells Fargo & Co. WFC, MasTec Inc. MTZ, Curtiss-Wright Corp. CW, Leidos Holdings Inc. LDOS and Parker-Hannifin Corp. PH. 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.

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

Wells Fargo & Co.

Wells Fargo’s earnings surpassed the estimates in each of the trailing four quarters. The Federal Reserve's June 2025 removal of the $1.95 trillion asset cap allows growth in deposits, loans, and fee-based services. The asset cap had restricted balance sheet growth, limiting the bank’s full potential. With its removal, WFC can now expand deposits, grow its loan portfolio, and increase securities holdings, setting the stage for stronger financial performance and long-term strategic gains.

WFC also gains room to scale fee-based businesses like payment services and asset management, enhancing its revenue mix. After clearing the 2025 Fed stress test, WFC raised its dividend, backed by strong liquidity and capital position. Also, strategic investments in talent and technology support long-term growth.

Wells Fargo has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 5.4% and 11.7%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.7% over the last 30 days.

MasTec Inc.

MasTec is an infrastructure construction company providing engineering, building, installation, maintenance, and upgrade services for communications, energy, utility, and other infrastructure primarily in the United States and Canada. 

MTZ is helping lead the charge in the once-in-a-lifetime expansion of the energy industry, which has only just begun, to support power-hungry AI, reshoring, and more. The company is a major beneficiary of the AI-powered data center boom. 

MTZ is a leading solution provider for design, construction, and maintenance services in the wireless network space. High-speed wireless network connectivity is of utmost importance as both enterprises and households use more AI-driven products. 

MTZ operates four segments: Communications (wireless and wireline/fiber infrastructure), Power Delivery (utility transmission and distribution), Pipeline Infrastructure (natural gas pipeline and distribution services) and Clean Energy and Infrastructure (renewable energy and heavy civil/industrial projects).

The power-hungry AI age, electrification, and the reshoring of critical manufacturing such as semiconductors are all happening at the same time. MTZ’s entire portfolio is growing directly alongside the converging infrastructure spending megatrend.

MasTec has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 8.4% and 28.3%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.7% in the last 60 days.

Curtiss-Wright Corp.

Curtiss-Wright has been benefiting from the global shift toward alternative energy, particularly in nuclear power. CW plays a key role in the construction of new nuclear power plants by supplying reactor coolant pumps for the Generation III+ Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. 

The clean energy transition, especially in developing nations with limited power infrastructure, is expected to drive long-term growth in commercial nuclear energy. Increasing submarine demand, along with growing commercial air traffic, is also benefiting CW. The company boasts a solid solvency position.

Curtiss-Wright has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 6.9% and 11.6%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 3.2% over the last 60 days. 

Leidos Holdings Inc.

Leidos Holdings’ defense solutions business continues to witness increased orders from the Pentagon and other U.S. allies. These contracts led to a solid backlog of $47.66 billion at the end of the third quarter, which should boost LDOS’ revenue-generation prospects. The solid financial position of LDOS has allowed the company to enhance shareholder returns through dividend hikes.

In May 2025, a White House report published that U.S. President Trump proposed an increase of 13% in the nation’s defense spending to $1.01 trillion for fiscal year 2026. LDOS believes that it is very well-positioned to contribute meaningfully to the Golden Dome mission, which will require next-generation sensor and missile defense capabilities like those offered by Leidos with its latest air and missile defense capability playing a vital role in the defense of Guam.

The budget also advocates an investment of $60 billion in nuclear enterprise modernization, encompassing all three legs of the nation's nuclear triad. Leidos has supported the nation’s nuclear deterrence mission with science, engineering, and technology initiatives since its inception. 

Leidos Holdings has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 3.4% and 4.8%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.1% over the last 30 days. 

Parker-Hannifin Corp.

Parker-Hannifin is benefiting from steady demand in the commercial and military end markets across both OEM and aftermarket channels within the Aerospace segment. The accretive acquisitions spark optimism in the stock. The Win strategy is driving its margins and allowing PH to continue returning value to shareholders.

Steady demand across end markets and higher orders are supporting PH’s Aerospace Systems segment. This segment is benefiting from strong momentum in commercial and military end markets across both OEM and aftermarket channels. Segmental revenues jumped approximately 13.3% year over year in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. 

The Aerospace Systems segment is poised to gain from strong demand for its products and aftermarket support services in the general aviation market, driven by growth in air transport activities. Strength in its defense end market, owing to stable U.S. and international defense spending volumes, is also likely to be beneficial. PH expects the Aerospace Systems segment’s organic sales to increase 8-11% from the year-ago level in fiscal 2026.

Parker-Hannifin has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 6.1% and 10.6%, respectively, for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 0.1% over the last 30 days. 

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

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