Take the Zacks Approach to Beat the Markets: Starbucks, Amgen, Allogene in Focus

Last Friday, all three Wall Street benchmark stock indexes registered weekly losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.89%, the S&P 500 declined 1.75% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.59%.

The downturn was largely due to a sharp surge in crude oil prices and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which heightened concerns about inflation and global economic growth. Rising energy costs weighed on several sectors, particularly materials, industrials and consumer staples, while investors also remained cautious ahead of key U.S. economic data that could influence the Fed’s interest-rate outlook. The combination of geopolitical uncertainty and inflation worries triggered broad market volatility and risk-off sentiment among investors.

Regardless of market conditions, we, here at Zacks, provide investors with unbiased guidance on how to beat the market. 

As usual, Zacks Research guided investors over the past three months with its time-tested methodologies. Given the prevailing market uncertainty, you may want to look at our feats to prepare better for your next action.

Here are some of our key achievements:

Allogene Therapeutics and Moog Surge Following Zacks Rank Upgrade

Shares of Allogene Therapeutics, Inc. ALLO have gained 70.4% (versus the S&P 500’s 1.6% decrease) since it was upgraded to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) on January 5.

Another stock, Moog Inc. MOG.A, which was also upgraded to a Zacks Rank #2 on January 5, has returned 26.8% since then.

An equal-weight portfolio of Zacks Rank # 1 (Strong Buy) stocks outperformed the equal-weight S&P 500 index by 7 percentage points (+17.81% for the Zacks Rank #1 stocks vs. +10.85% for the index).

This hypothetical equal-weight portfolio returned +22.4% in 2024 vs. +13.7% for the equal-weight S&P 500 index. Over the preceding 10-year period (2016 through 2025), this portfolio of qual-weight Zacks Rank #1 stocks has outperformed the equal-weight S&P 500 index by more than 7 percentage points (+18.55% vs. +11.65%).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here >>>

Check Allogene’s historical EPS and Sales here>>>

Check Moog’s historical EPS and Sales here>>>

Zacks Recommendation Upgrades Yankuang Energy and FormFactor

Shares of Yankuang Energy Group Company Limited YZCAY and FormFactor, Inc. FORM have surged 31.7% and 16.3% (versus the S&P 500’s 3.3% fall), respectively, since their Zacks Recommendation was upgraded to Outperform on January 13.

While the Zacks Rank is our short-term rating system that is most effective over the one- to three-month holding horizon, the Zacks Recommendation aims to predict performance over the next 6 to 12 months. However, just like the Zacks Rank, the foundation for the Zacks Recommendation is trends in earnings estimate revisions.

The Zacks Recommendation classifies stocks into three groups — Outperform, Neutral and Underperform. While these recommendations are determined quantitatively, our analysts have the flexibility to override them for the 1100+ stocks they closely follow based on their better judgment of factors such as valuation, industry conditions and management effectiveness than the quantitative model.

To access our research reports with Zacks Recommendations for the 1100+ stocks we cover, click here>>>

Zacks Focus List Stocks Micron, Intellia Shoot Up

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. MU, which belongs to the Zacks Focus List, have gained 46.7% over the past 12 weeks. The stock was added to the Focus List on December 27, 2016. Another Focus-List holding, Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. NTLA, which was added to the portfolio on March 7, 2023, has returned 44.5% over the past 12 weeks. The S&P 500 has declined 1.6% over this period. 

The 50-stock Focus List portfolio returned +5.22% in January 2026 vs. +1.45% for the S&P 500 index and +3.39% for the equal-weight version of the index.

The portfolio returned +22.1% in 2025 vs. +17.9% for the S&P 500 index and +11.4% for the equal-weight version of the index.

The Zacks Focus List portfolio returned +18.41% in 2024 vs. +25.04% for the S&P 500 index and +13% for the equal-weight S&P 500 index. The portfolio had returned +29.54% in 2023 vs. +26.28% for the S&P 500 index and +13.61% for the equal-weight S&P 500 index. In 2022, the portfolio returned -15.2% vs. the S&P 500 index’s -17.96%.

Through January 31^st, 2026, the portfolio’s rolling one-year, three-years, five-years, ten-years and since 2004 has been +22.2% (vs. +16.35% for the S&P 500 index), +21.55% (vs. +21.12%), +15.13% (vs. +14.99%), +16.59% (vs. +15.57%) and +12.36% vs. (+10.74%), respectively.

Unlock all of our powerful research, tools and analysis, including the Focus List, Zacks #1 Rank List, Equity Research Reports, Zacks Earnings ESP Filter, Premium Screener and more, as part of Zacks Premium. Gain full access now >>

Zacks ECAP Stocks Hershey’s & Colgate-Palmolive Gain Significantly

The Hershey Company HSY, a component of our Earnings Certain Admiral Portfolio (ECAP), has jumped 25.9% over the past 12 weeks. Colgate-Palmolive Company CL followed Hershey with 21.5% returns.

The Zacks Earnings Certain Admiral Portfolio (ECAP), which consists of 30 concentrated, ultra-defensive, long-term Buy-and-Hold stocks, returned -2.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025 vs. the S&P 500 index’s +2.7% gain (SPY ETF). For 2025 as a whole, the portfolio returned -1.67% vs. +17.9% gain for the S&P 500 index.

For the year 2024, the portfolio returned +16.26% vs. +24.89% for the S&P 500 index (SPY ETF).

In 2023, the portfolio returned +12.17% vs. +26.28% for the S&P 500 index. The portfolio returned -4.7% in 2022 vs. the S&P 500 index’s -17.96%.

With little to no turnover and annual rebalance periodicity, ECAP seeks to minimize capital loss by holding shares of companies whose earnings streams exhibit a proven 20+ year track record of surviving recessionary periods with minimal impact on aggregate earnings growth relative to the overall S&P 500.

The ECAP and many other model portfolios are available as part of Zacks Advisor Tools, a cloud-based solution to access Zacks award-winning stock, mutual fund and ETF research. Click here to schedule a demo.

Zacks ECDP Stocks Starbucks and Amgen Outperform Peers  

Starbucks Corporation SBUX, which is part of our Earnings Certain Dividend Portfolio (ECDP), has returned 20.3% over the past 12 weeks. Another ECDP stock, Amgen Inc. AMGN, has climbed 17.7% over the same time frame. Of course, the inclination of investors toward quality dividend stocks to secure an income stream amid heightened market volatility contributed to this performance.

Check Starbucks’ dividend history here>>>

Check Amgen’s dividend history here>>>

With an extremely low beta and a history of minimum earnings variability over the last 20+ years, this 25-stock portfolio helps significantly mitigate risk.

The Zacks Earnings Certain Dividend Portfolio (ECDP) returned -2.1% in 2025 Q4 vs. the S&P 500 index’s +2.7% gain and the Dividend Aristocrats ETF’s (NOBL) +1.6% return. For 2025, the portfolio returned -0.6% vs. +6.8% gain for the Dividend Aristocrat ETF.

For the full year 2024, the portfolio returned +6.95% vs. +24.89% for the S&P 500 index and +6.72% for NOBL.

The portfolio returned -0.9% in 2023 vs. +26.28% for the S&P 500 index and +8.11% for NOBL. The portfolio returned -2.3% in 2022 vs. -17.96% for the S&P 500 index and -8.34% for NOBL.

Click here to access this portfolio on Zacks Advisor Tools.  

Zacks Top 10 Stock VSE Corporation Delivers Solid Returns

VSE Corporation VSEC, from the Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2025, has jumped 15.5% since January 5, 2026, compared with the S&P 500 Index’s 1.6% decrease.

The Top 10 portfolio retuned +4.88% in January 2026 vs. +1.45% for the S&P 500 index and +3.39% for the equal-weight version of the index.

The Top 10 portfolio returned +22.6% in 2025 vs. +17.9% for the S&P 500 index and +11.4% for the equal-weight version of the index.

The Top 10 portfolio returned +62.98% in 2024, vs. +25.04% for the S&P 500 index and +13% for the equal-weight version of the index. The portfolio had returned +25.15% in 2023 vs. +26.28% for the S&P 500 index.

Through the end of January 2026, the Top 10 portfolio has produced a cumulative return of +2,616.9% since 2012 vs. +578.2% for the S&P 500 index and +416.7% for the equal-weight version of the index. The portfolio has produced an average annual return of +26.4% in the period 2012 through January 31^st, 2026 vs. +14.8% for the S&P 500 index and +12.4% for the equal-weight version of the index.

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

Zacks Investment Research