It's always painful when major indexes pull back sharply from record highs, but these retreats also offer investors a chance to go bargain hunting. Thanks to recent volatility, analysts suggest scores of quality stocks are now priced for significant upside over the next 12 months.
As valuations cool from historically stretched levels and the market rotates from pricey tech names toward defensive sectors, the potential for a rebound in the hardest-hit areas is growing.
Not long ago, finding outsized gains in Wall Street's top S&P 500 stocks was a challenge; now, several of these names appear poised for serious outperformance once the current volatility subsides.
Value investors will eventually step in, bulls say. It's also important to note that the second month of the year is typically a downer. Carson Group Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick refers to February as the "banana peel" month because it is historically one of the most treacherous and volatile periods for stocks.
Despite fears of massive spending on artificial intelligence (AI), the AI economy, a weaker dollar and rising share repurchases are expected to help stocks to a fourth straight year of gains. The fact that the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates at least twice in 2026 bodes especially well for equities.
"We stay overweight U.S. stocks and the AI theme, supported by robust earnings expectations," writes Jean Boivin, head of BlackRock Investment Institute. "Strong corporate earnings, driven in part by the AI theme, are supported by a favorable macro backdrop: continued Federal Reserve easing, broad economic optimism and less policy uncertainty, particularly on the trade front."
The bottom line is that although markets have been a bit choppy lately, the fundamental outlook for equities remains bright.
Analysts spy lots of big bargains
As long as a company's earnings prospects are rising faster than its share price, its stock can very much look like a bargain, and therefore a potential market beater. To get a sense of where to start digging for such finds, we screened the S&P 500 by implied upside to industry analysts' average price targets.
What we found: 40 stocks in the S&P 500 have implied upside of at least 40% over the next 12 months or so, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
But before we get to the S&P 500 stocks that could rally the most based on price targets, a caveat is in order.
Price targets are a blunt tool when it comes to sussing out cheap stocks. Committing capital based on a single data point is not an investment process.
It's also important to note that stocks with the most upside potential don't necessarily get consensus Buy recommendations from the very same analysts whose models spit out the target prices.
With that warning out of the way, if you're looking for widely traded stocks with the most upside potential, the names listed below aren't a bad place to start.
Company (Ticker) |
Price Target |
Upside to price target |
Consensus recommendation score |
Consensus recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Coinbase (COIN) |
$337.46 |
100% |
1.86 |
Buy |
The Trade Desk (TTD) |
$53.94 |
98% |
2.16 |
Buy |
Oracle (ORCL) |
$278.92 |
90% |
1.79 |
Buy |
AppLovin (APP) |
$734.73 |
90% |
1.64 |
Buy |
Axon Enterprise (AXON) |
$815.00 |
89% |
1.53 |
Buy |
Robinhood Markets (HOOD) |
$150.15 |
86% |
1.83 |
Buy |
GoDaddy (GDDY) |
$175.00 |
83% |
2.06 |
Buy |
Tyler Technologies (TYL) |
$609.81 |
78% |
1.62 |
Buy |
Intuit (INTU) |
$783.22 |
76% |
1.66 |
Buy |
ServiceNow (NOW) |
$191.56 |
75% |
1.36 |
Strong Buy |
Datadog (DDOG) |
$194.06 |
68% |
1.43 |
Strong Buy |
Salesforce (CRM) |
$327.86 |
64% |
1.64 |
Buy |
Boston Scientific (BSX) |
$118.78 |
64% |
1.24 |
Strong Buy |
Vistra (VST) |
$230.05 |
61% |
1.57 |
Buy |
Constellation Energy (CEG) |
$402.17 |
61% |
1.72 |
Buy |
Workday (WDAY) |
$270.17 |
59% |
1.77 |
Buy |
CoStar Group (CSGP) |
$80.74 |
54% |
1.89 |
Buy |
Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) |
$78.68 |
53% |
2.04 |
Buy |
KKR (KKR) |
$159.21 |
52% |
1.50 |
Strong Buy |
Paycom Software (PAYC) |
$197.18 |
52% |
2.38 |
Buy |
Trimble (TRMB) |
$98.08 |
51% |
1.31 |
Strong Buy |
Adobe (ADBE) |
$417.42 |
49% |
2.26 |
Buy |
Autodesk (ADSK) |
$363.20 |
49% |
1.41 |
Strong Buy |
Broadcom (AVGO) |
$458.59 |
49% |
1.22 |
Strong Buy |
Uber Technologies (UBER) |
$108.13 |
48% |
1.53 |
Buy |
Humana (HUM) |
$282.96 |
47% |
2.59 |
Hold |
Insulet (PODD) |
$369.64 |
47% |
1.42 |
Strong Buy |
Block (XYZ) |
$84.21 |
47% |
1.74 |
Buy |
Omnicom Group (OMC) |
$101.10 |
46% |
2.09 |
Buy |
Nvidia (NVDA) |
$253.62 |
46% |
1.35 |
Strong Buy |
Microsoft (MSFT) |
$599.86 |
46% |
1.21 |
Strong Buy |
Fair Isaac (FICO) |
$2,011.76 |
45% |
1.89 |
Buy |
News Corp (NWSA) |
$35.73 |
45% |
1.63 |
Buy |
Equifax (EFX) |
$258.00 |
44% |
1.87 |
Buy |
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) |
$288.07 |
44% |
1.55 |
Buy |
West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) |
$340.71 |
44% |
1.50 |
Strong Buy |
FactSet Research Systems (FDS) |
$322.13 |
43% |
2.94 |
Hold |
Global Payments (GPN) |
$101.04 |
43% |
2.33 |
Buy |
Gen Digital (GEN) |
$32.65 |
42% |
2.09 |
Buy |
Ares Management (ARES) |
$194.63 |
42% |
2.18 |
Buy |
Data as of February 5, courtesy of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
