Finance
12 finance pros reveal the stocks they’re personally recommending to clients in 2026
As you work on diversifying your stock portfolio, it can be a good idea to take a step back and consider your options. What sectors are advantageous now? Should a new approach be taken?
We spoke with 12 financial and investing experts who shared the stocks that have currently piqued their interest. And, they shared their best advice on how to approach your picks. If you’re looking for sound advice this year, and beyond, you can find advisers using CFP Board, NAPFA or this free tool from our ad partner SmartAsset that matches you to fiduciary advisers.
CrowdStrike or the ETF Global X Cybersecurity — Myles J. McHale Jr., president and founder of Wealthcare Advisors
“Many of us have faced credit card fraud or financial/romance scams, and these issues are not going away. I recommend investing in network security, endpoint protection and identity management. Specifically, the individual stock CrowdStrike (CRWD) or the ETF Global X Cybersecurity ETF (BUG) are excellent choices in this space. With the continued expansion of AI, cybersecurity investments will remain crucial,” McHale says, while adding that “there is no need to panic or drastically change your current asset allocation.”
BBB Foods — Rick Munarriz, stock analyst at Motley Fool
“Valuations and tensions are high, so if there were ever a time to be a Peter Lynch disciple and ‘buy what you know,’ this would be it. Don’t chase hot stock tips in companies and industries you don’t fully understand or aren’t passionate about. One of my favorite stocks heading into 2026 is BBB Foods (NYSE: TBBB). It’s the parent company of Tiendas 3B, a fast-growing retail chain in Mexico specializing in ‘hard discount’ groceries.
It’s a stacker, and by that I mean a company that is stacking growth on top of growth. BBB Foods is expanding its chain at a low double-digit percentage rate. It’s also growing average store-level sales — or what they call comparable-store sales — in the low double digits. Stack those two things together consistently, and BBB Foods has rattled off four consecutive years of better-than-30% revenue growth.”
BlackRock, GE Aerospace and Walmart — Jason Bernat, investment adviser, president and CEO of American Financial Services
“We are anticipating several rate cuts in 2026 which will support higher valuations but also increased volatility. I personally believe that AI will continue to remain central. Stocks tied to AI computing and data center buildouts are obvious choices. However, moving beyond pure hype tech, into sectors like financials, industrials, and even value, will give a major growth opportunity.
NVIDIA (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO), Marvel (MRVL), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), Alphabet (GOOGL) [and] Amazon (AMZN) are your champion AI stocks with high earning potentials, momentum, and cloud and hardware growth expectancy. Outside those, I like BlackRock (BLK), which has strong earnings growth. GE Aerospace (GE) industrial and defense exposure with projected revenue growth. Finally with a more defensive position if markets wobble is Walmart (WMT).”
“Focus on owning high-quality, cash-flow-generative assets” — Josh Katz, CPA and founder of Universal Tax Professionals
“The easy-money era, where simply being in the market guaranteed strong returns, has shifted. This year, focus on owning high-quality, cash-flow-generative assets and let that income, reinvested over time, do the heavy lifting for your portfolio. Patience and discipline will be key differentiators.
I always favor diversified exposure through ETFs that capture the themes above rather than risky individual stock picks. The U.S. equity market is projected for resilient growth, with firms poised to benefit from AI-driven efficiency gains, a friendly policy mix and strong earnings potential. This remains the core, growth-oriented foundation of a portfolio. In a market favoring quality and durable cash flow, funds focused on companies with a history of growing their dividends are essential.”
Renewable energy and energy storage — Jamie Hobkirk, CFP at Reynders McVeigh Capital Management
“As we move into 2026, I think it is important for investors to stay diversified across different sectors and not get hung up on the winners of 2025. More recently, we are starting to see increased breadth in the market, which presents more investment opportunities for investors.
Themes that Reynders McVeigh continues to like are renewable energy, energy storage and the buildout of the electric grid. The expansion of artificial intelligence is creating a growing demand for energy. With current demand outpacing production, multiple energy sources will be needed to support continued growth. Companies that support these themes are Schneider Electric, Nexans, and Nextpower Inc. to name a few.”
AI and tech — Carson K. Odom, CPA, CFP and wealth adviser at Adams Wealth Partners
“AI and technology leadership remain central to the conversation, but concentration is the biggest risk factor here. My biggest warning would be to make sure investors are aware of how concentrated an index fund they own may be. Some may not realize that 40% of their index fund is concentrated in under 10 names.
Themes I like for 2026 are tech and AI infrastructure, quality earnings and underperforming small-cap stocks. AI got the headlines in 2025, and I think the infrastructure behind it can take the lead in 2026. Also, high quality small-cap stocks have really lagged in performance since 2021. We’re nearing one of the largest deficits in small cap performance relative to large caps in recent history. If history tends to give us a lesson, it’s that there’s usually a reversion to the mean with these trends, which makes small caps appear attractive.”
Walmart and American Express — Ekenna Anya-Gafu, CFP, accredited asset management specialist, AIF and founder of Pacific Canyon Investments
“My number one piece of advice is have a long-term thesis and try to ignore the noise (a lot easier said than done). My biggest thought when it comes to the stock market and retail clients is that understanding the source of products, where they are made, and who the company is selling to is extremely important.” Anya-Gafu recommends:
“Walmart (WMT): They have close to a monopoly on low-income shoppers, and if the K curve (different groups in the economy experience very different outcomes at the same time) shows more in 2026, I believe the middle class will start to fade, which puts more individuals and households into lower income thresholds.
American Express (AXP): We saw that 93% of all purchases on Black Friday [were] done on a credit card or Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL). I like American Express because their high credit profile requirements will be more protected from people not being able to pay their credit card bills, but because it is a charge card, it should make more profit than a typical credit card company.”
Digital infrastructure and essential services — Martin Robinson, CFP and director at Amzonite
“Areas such as digital infrastructure, the energy transition and essential services continue to attract attention because they tend to be more resilient across different market conditions. Companies with steady cash flows, pricing power and strong ownership are often better positioned when uncertainty is high. Ultimately, stock choices should reflect personal goals, time horizon and comfort with risk, rather than a single prediction about where the market is headed.”
MYR Group, First Solar and Recursion Pharmaceuticals — Peter Krull, director of sustainable investing at Earth Equity Advisors recommends:
“MYR Group (MYRG) — Specialists in electrical infrastructure. Between the clean energy transition and the AI buildout, we’re going to need to move electrons efficiently across the country. MYR designs and builds transmission lines to meet the ever-growing demand for more electricity. I see continued growth for at least the next decade in their services.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX) — One of the most promising uses of AI technology is in biotechnology and pharmaceutical development. Recursion teamed up with NVIDIA to build a supercomputer to analyze potential drug opportunities. The analysis performed by the Recursion system has the potential to speed up the drug development process and reduce the cost of development by half. This is a riskier opportunity, but there should be long-term potential.
First Solar (FSLR) — First Solar is a leading designer and manufacturer of solar panels and systems for utility-scale developments, and the largest headquartered in the U.S. They are focused on innovation in the solar manufacturing space, investing in clean manufacturing and higher cell efficiency.”
Healthcare, energy and housing — Chris McMahon, president and CEO at Aquinas Wealth Advisors LLC
“We believe the market will broaden out dramatically over the next few years. The current overconcentration in tech stocks will begin to spread into the broader market. In particular, we think sectors such as construction, banking, and materials are well positioned for growth.” McMahon recommends:
“Healthcare: this sector has languished as the market reduced allocation based on the uncertainty of Secretary Kennedy. We have had time to see that in spite of some changes.
Energy: driven by the demand from AI and also a return to U.S. manufacturing we expect energy to outperform in the coming year.
Housing/material: lower interest rates will drive spending and fuel the growth of this sector. [The] $3-6 million shortage of housing is real and means good things for the sector.”
Commodities — Michael E. Chadwick, CFP and founder at Fiscal Wisdom Wealth Management
“The public needs to understand capital is slowing [and] rotating away from stocks to hard assets. While the world chases seven stocks and crypto, the next cycle will favor hard assets and the most richly valued things today will take the biggest bath. Index funds, popular mutual funds, ETFs that are passive, and lifestyle funds are the most dangerous things to own today and will likely see massive falls followed by upswings.
I like the commodity complex in general — precious metals No. 1, miners No. 2, critical metals No. 3, energy No. 4, [hard commodities like energy, gold and silver] and Latin America is also very attractive. I like them because they’re out of favor, undervalued and have been ignored. The whole world is chasing AI, tech and crypto, so some amazing opportunities exist in boring areas. This is where the real money will be made in the next cycle.”
Utilities and industrials — Doug Beath, global equity strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute
“We continue to be very positive on the AI buildout and believe we’re closer to the early innings of the cycle than the end, but are also cognizant of valuations. We downgraded the technology sector to neutral several months ago and now favor the ancillary trends related to AI but with better valuations such as utilities with the data centers, and industrials to help build out those data centers.
Financials also have a favorable AI-related theme in terms of financing and M&A activity — and seem particularly oversold so far in 2026. At some point, we could overweight technology again if there’s a pullback or market conditions changed. This leads to another theme we’re recommending to clients this year, and that is prepare to ‘be nimble.’”
Scholars examine bank and cryptocurrency regulation and assess potential risks to financial stability and resilience.
Federal banking regulators recently proposed rules to implement the Basel III Endgame framework. Global banking regulators developed the Basel III framework after the 2008 financial crisis to strengthen bank regulation, supervision, and risk management through a set of international standards. The final set of rules to implement the framework has been dubbed “Basel III Endgame.”
Although regulators originally planned to finalize and implement the Basel III accord by the beginning of 2023, countries have repeatedly delayed implementation while tailoring the framework to national interests and as banks and policymakers around the world increasingly embrace a more deregulatory approach.
The updated proposal follows a 2023 proposal from the Biden Administration that drew criticism for threatening to impose burdensome capital requirements on U.S. banks that could reduce lending and credit availability. Regulators argued that strengthening risk-based capital requirements for large banks would promote financial stability and resilience, but critics contended that the proposal could instead restrict banks’ lending capacity and push lending and traditional bank activity into more lightly regulated shadow banking sectors, such as private credit.
The latest proposal departs significantly from the 2023 proposal and would reduce the regulatory burden on large banks. The banking industry has applauded the recent deregulatory push, but critics warn that this approach risks weakening bank regulatory infrastructure only a few years after several major bank failures revealed ongoing gaps in bank supervision. Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse in 2023 marked the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history and required major emergency intervention. Although U.S. bank regulators largely contained the fallout and prevented contagion risks, the episode highlighted ongoing systemic risks to financial stability.
Debate over U.S. banking regulation also coincides with financial innovation and the rise of cryptocurrency, which have upended traditional financial services. The proposal comes less than a year after Congress passed the GENIUS Act, which established a baseline framework for stablecoin issuance. The GENIUS Act represented a significant regulatory breakthrough in a rapidly developing industry but left open many questions about its implementation and the future of cryptocurrency and stablecoin regulation. Federal regulators recently proposed rules to begin implementing the GENIUS Act framework, which will take effect in January 2027.
In this week’s seminar, scholars explore and offer competing views on current risks to the banking system and financial stability and identify potential regulatory vulnerabilities, including new payment systems tied to cryptocurrency.
- In a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, Stephen Cecchetti and co-authors advocate implementation of the Basel III Endgame standards and higher U.S. capital requirements for large banks. They argue that criticisms of the 2023 proposed regulations are not supported by data and that heightened capital requirements do not reduce bank lending. The authors warn that failure to align U.S. regulations with the international Basel III standards could start a deregulatory race to the bottom that would undermine global banking stability.
- In an article in the University of Illinois Law Review, American University Washington College of Law Professor Hilary Allen explains that financial stability risks can arise from often-overlooked sources beyond the traditional banking sector, such as venture capital. Using the venture capital industry as a case study, Allen contends that speculative sectors such as cryptocurrency can pose risks when regulatory oversight is weak. She argues that effective banking regulation of emerging risks requires a more proactive, systemwide approach, including increased monitoring of risks arising from venture capital investment and more aggressive securities law enforcement against cryptocurrency activities.
- In a Stanford Law Review article that predates the GENIUS Act, Gabriel Rauterberg and Jeffrey Zhang argue that shadow banking, including stablecoin issuance, should fall under securities regulators’ oversight. Shadow banking covers a broad range of activities that resemble banking but fall outside the traditionally narrow bank regulatory perimeter and lack banking regulation. As a result, shadow banking receives significantly less regulatory oversight, creating vulnerability and instability in the financial system. The authors contend that many shadow banking activities fall within securities law’s purview and that securities regulation should promote systemic stability by working with traditional bank regulation.
- Financial regulation has not kept pace with the financial system’s rapid changes, University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School Assistant Professor of Finance Yao Zeng asserts in the International Monetary Fund’s Finance & Development quarterly publication. Zeng frames stablecoins as innovative in form but economically familiar in function and financial vulnerability. He argues that although stablecoins promise faster, cheaper, and more accessible payments, their bank-like economic functions and lack of protections such as deposit insurance and lender-of-last-resort support create familiar risks to financial stability. Zeng proposes that regulation should depend more on function than label: if stablecoins perform bank-like monetary functions, they should provide similar safeguards.
- In a Delaware Journal of Corporate Law article, Arthur E. Wilmarth argues that the GENIUS Act institutionalizes nonbank stablecoin issuance, a practice that carries severe economic risks and lacks offsetting benefits. Wilmarth contends that nonbank stablecoin issuance undermines traditional banking and allows nonbank entities, such as tech firms, to perform bank-like functions without proper regulatory safeguards. He argues that the resulting ecosystem carries significant risks for financial stability and maintains that stablecoin issuance should be limited to FDIC-insured banks to ensure that adequate protections safeguard depositors’ money.
- In a recent article in the Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Roanoke College’s Zane Mullins addresses common critiques of stablecoins and pushes back against the view that stablecoins pose risks to the financial system. Mullins proposes a narrow stablecoin framework that would allow stablecoin issuers to settle payments with common central bank reserves. He argues that this framework would mitigate credit and liquidity risk by giving all stablecoin issuers similar access to a common settlement medium. Mullins contends that the framework would also address interoperability concerns, promote a level playing field among issuers, and mitigate counterparty risk.
Finance
Evoke Entertainment Closes $35 Million Production Financing Facility Backed By Major Private Credit Fund
EXCLUSIVE: Evoke Entertainment has closed a senior secured production financing facility of up to $35 million backed by a multi-billion-dollar private credit fund.
While we verified the deal with the lender, they spoke with Deadline on the condition of anonymity, per company policy. The revolving production facility is designed to support Evoke’s expanding slate of independent features, television movies, streaming films, and series — significantly increasing the company’s already high-volume production output across major studios, networks, and streaming platforms.
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Structured around contracted revenue streams, distribution agreements, tax incentives, and the value of Evoke’s existing library and historical production performance, the facility provides the company with flexible, scalable production financing across multiple genres and platforms. Evoke’s lender comes to the partnership with extensive experience in structured finance, asset-backed lending, and entertainment-related investments.
The deal was spearheaded by Evoke Entertainment CEO Stan Spry, who told us, “This financing marks a transformative moment for Evoke. The backing of a major institutional private credit partner gives us the ability to substantially scale our production operations while continuing to focus on commercially driven, cost-efficient content for the global marketplace.”
The first projects to be financed under Evoke’s facility include a large slate of TV and streaming movies including a Christmas film for Hallmark, a survival thriller for Lifetime, alongside the independent feature films Suburban Kings, Homesick, and Bali Hai.
Founded in 2011, and formerly known as Cartel Entertainment, Evoke Entertainment is a full-service management, production, and finance company that produces more than 20 films and series annually across major platforms including Netflix, Hallmark, Lifetime, Tubi, NBC/Peacock, AMC, and Great American Media. Notable past projects include Creepshow (AMC), Day of the Dead (Syfy), Twelve Forever (Netflix), and the upcoming Breaking Bear for Tubi, to name a few.
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Background
India is home to the world’s largest livestock population of 536.76 million, which produces 25% of the world’s milk1. This increase in livestock population leads to increased methane emissions, primarily from enteric fermentation and manure management. As a result, livestock contributes to 58% (BUR 4, 2020) of India’s agricultural methane footprint. However, unlike crop-based emissions, livestock methane is diffuse, biologically driven, and more complex to measure and manage, making it less visible within existing climate finance frameworks.
Current research and policy discussions indicate that while technical mitigation solutions exist through feed improvements and manure management, evidence of their effectiveness in maintaining dairy productivity, animal health, and protecting farmers’ incomes is scattered. This leads to heightened risk perceptions among dairy producers when considering methane mitigation measures. Furthermore, even where the evidence is compelling, the fragmentation of dairy producers precludes their aggregation. Additionally, there is a lack of robust, affordable, and scalable monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems at the grassroots level. These barriers prevent the development of a clear, scalable, and financeable pipeline of livestock methane abatement in India.
The Government of India has actively supported dairy development and livestock health through various schemes and programs introduced by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying. At the same time, livestock systems in India are deeply embedded within rural livelihoods and socio-economic structures, making the sector a critical component of rural resilience. Consequently, interventions must be context-aware and farmer-centric, with a strong focus on livelihood security and alignment with local values and practices.
With this background, CPI is organizing a roundtable to explore how livestock methane can transition from a technically understood challenge to actionable opportunities on the ground, including both animal feed and manure management. The forum would bring together dairy producer organizations, nodal agencies, think tanks, ecosystem enablers, and financial institutions. It will deliberate upon possible projectized solutions and accompanying financing mechanisms that could be scaled up to address the twin objectives of methane abatement and farmers’ income security.
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