Zacks.com featured highlights include Harmony Biosciences, Tripadvisor, The AES and Concentrix

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – February 19, 2026 – Stocks in this week’s article are Harmony Biosciences Holdings, Inc. HRMY, Tripadvisor, Inc. TRIP, The AES Corp. AES and Concentrix Corp. CNXC.

4 Value Stocks to Buy Now Amid AI-Driven Market Volatility

U.S. equities ended modestly higher yesterday, reversing early-session weakness as sentiment improved throughout the day. Stocks came under pressure early on after concerns that advances in artificial intelligence could disrupt some business models, leading to a pullback in several software stocks. The market stabilized as the session progressed, allowing major benchmarks to recover from their intraday lows.

By the close, the S&P 500 edged up 0.10% to 6,843.22, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.14% to 22,578.38. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a 0.07% gain, ending at 49,533.19.

Even though the major indexes only moved slightly, the market action hints at a quiet shift in investor focus, one that could favor value stocks. Often trading below their intrinsic value, these stocks offer a safety margin.

When evaluating value stocks, one of the most effective valuation metrics is the Price to Cash Flow (P/CF) ratio. Companies like Harmony Biosciences Holdings, Inc. , Tripadvisor, Inc. , The AES Corp. and Concentrix Corp.  boast a low P/CF ratio. The P/CF ratio evaluates the market price of a stock relative to the amount of cash flow that the company is generating on a per-share basis — the lower the number, the better.

Price to Cash Flow Reflects Financial Health

You must be wondering why we consider the P/CF valuation metric when the most widely used valuation metric is Price/Earnings (or P/E). An important factor that makes P/CF a highly dependable metric is that operating cash flow adds back non-cash charges such as depreciation and amortization to net income, truly diagnosing a company’s financial health.

Analysts caution that a company’s earnings are subject to accounting estimates and management manipulation. Then again, cash flow is quite reliable. Net cash flow unveils how much money a company generates and how effectively management is deploying the same.

Positive cash flow indicates an increase in the company’s liquid assets. This gives the company the means to settle debt, meet its expenses, reinvest in the business, endure downturns and finally undertake shareholder-friendly moves. Negative cash flow implies a decline in the company’s liquidity, which, in turn, lowers its flexibility to support these endeavors.

What’s the Best Value Investing Strategy?

An investment decision based solely on the P/CF metric may not yield the desired results. To identify stocks that are trading at a discount, you should expand your search criteria and also consider the price-to-book ratio, price-to-earnings ratio and price-to-sales ratio. Adding a favorable Zacks Rank and a Value Score of A or B to your search criteria should lead to even better results as these eliminate the chance of falling into a value trap.

Here are four out of the 12 value stocks that qualified the screening:

Harmony Biosciences, a pharmaceutical company, sports a Zacks Rank #1. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.2%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Harmony Biosciences’ current financial-year sales and EPS indicates growth of 21.4% and 25.9%, respectively, from the year-ago period. HRMY has a Value Score of A. Shares of HRMY have risen 4.6% in the past year.

Tripadvisor, an online travel company engaged in the provision of travel guidance products and services worldwide, sports a Zacks Rank #1. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 32.1%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Tripadvisor’s current financial-year sales and EPS calls for growth of 2.6% and 44.1%, respectively, from the year-ago period. TRIP has a Value Score of A. Shares of TRIP have fallen 40.4% in the past year.

The AES Corp., a global energy company, carries a Zacks Rank #2. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 14.7%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AES Corporation’s current financial-year sales and EPS implies growth of 3% and 0.9%, respectively, from the year-ago period. AES has a Value Score of A. Shares of AES have advanced 57.6% in the past year.

Concentrix Corp., a global technology and services leader providing customer experience solutions, carries a Zacks Rank #2. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 1%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Concentrix Corporation’s current financial-year sales and EPS suggests growth of 2.9% and 4.8%, respectively, from the year-ago period. CNXC has a Value Score of A. Shares of CNXC have declined 33.5% in the past year.

You can get the rest of the stock 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 create your own strategies and back test them first before taking the investment plunge.

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For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/2871390/4-value-stocks-to-buy-now-amid-ai-driven-market-volatility

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