Finding the Best Top-Ranked Stocks to Buy in May and Beyond

Stocks ripped higher on Tuesday as Wall Street looked hopefully to the possibility of the U.S. and China starting trade negotiations. CNBC reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told investors in a closed-door meeting he expects “there will be a de-escalation” in the tariff battle with China in the “very near future.”

This news came after JD Vance and Modi met in New Delhi to start high-level trade talks between the U.S. and India.

The upbeat day also followed Monday’s selloff that pushed the Nasdaq back to its 2021 highs. The bulls held their ground at that potentially key level.

The upbeat tariff headlines, mixed with Taiwan Semi’s rather bullish earnings results and guidance from last Thursday, might provide runway as the busy portion of Q1 earnings season ramps up.

With this in mind, let’s dig into how investors can use a Zacks screen to help find some of the best Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks to consider buying as the calendar creeps toward May.

Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy)stocks outperform the market in good and bad times. However, there are over 200 stocks that earn a Zacks Rank #1 at any given time.

Therefore, it’s helpful to understand how to apply filters to the Zacks Rank in order to narrow the list down to a more manageable and tradable set of stocks.

Parameters

Clearly, there are only three items on this screen. But together, these three filters can result in some impressive returns.

• Zacks Rank equal to 1

Starting with a Zacks Rank #1 is often a strong jumping off point because it boasts an average annual return of roughly 24.4% per year since 1988.

• % Change (Q1) Est. over 4 Weeks greater than 0

Positive current quarter estimate revisions over the last four weeks.

• % Broker Rating Change over 4 Week equal to Top # 5

Top 5 stocks with the best average broker rating changes over the last four weeks.

This strategy comes loaded with the Research Wizard and is called bt_sow_filtered zacks rank5. It can be found in the SoW (Screen of the Week) folder.

Here is one of the five stocks that qualified for the Filtered Zacks Rank 5 strategy today…

Why This Top-Ranked Stock is a Must Buy with 60% Upside

Celsius Holdings, Inc. CELH is an energy drink powerhouse competing directly against Red Bull and other industry giants. Its pitch to consumers and investors is that its products are “better-for-you, zero-sugar alternative to traditional energy drinks.” Wall Street is bullish on Celsius since 13 of the 18 brokerage recommendations Zacks has are “Strong Buys”

Celsius expanded its revenue from $131 million in 2020 to $1.35 billion in 2024. CELH’s growth slowed to 3% last year after three straight years of over 100% YoY expansion.

Still, the energy drink company contributed “30% of all category growth” in 2024 and increased its “category share by 160 basis points to 11.8%.” On top of that, Celsius completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of Alani Nutrition on April 1 to expand its next-generation energy drink and supplement portfolio.

Celsius is projected to grow its revenue by 61% in 2025 and 19% in 2026 to help boost its adjusted earnings by 50% and 13%, respectively.

On top of that, its consensus earnings estimate jumped by 24% for 2025 and 19% for 2026 in the last few months.

CELH shares have skyrocketed over 2,000% in the past five years, including a 100% run during the past three. Despite that run, investors can buy Celsius stock 60% below its all-time highs at around $37.68 a share.

The stock recently climbed above its 50-day and 200-day, and is on the verge of completing the bullish golden cross where the shorter-dated moving average climbs above the longer-term trendline. Celsius also trdes at a 60% discount to its five-year median at 33.2X forward earnings. 

Get the rest of the stocks on this list and start looking for the newest companies that fit these criteria. It's easy to do. And it could help you find your next big winner. Start screening for these companies today with a free trial to the Research Wizard. You can do it.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

Want more articles from this author? Scroll up to the top of this article and click the FOLLOW AUTHOR button to get an email each time a new article is published.

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: www.zacks.com/performance_disclosure

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

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

Zacks Investment Research