Analysts' Top S&P 500 Stocks to Buy Now

It's tough to commit fresh capital to stocks when volatility is picking up and markets remain close to record highs.

Putting emotions aside, it's important to know that the fourth quarter is historically the strongest period of the year for equities. It's also encouraging news that earnings estimates are rising faster than stock prices. As a result, stocks no longer look particularly expensive.

"The S&P 500’s forward earnings multiple has declined by 14% and now sits at 19.1, right on its 10-year average," notes Nicolas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research.

From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance

Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues

CLICK FOR FREE ISSUE

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters

Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.

Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.

Sign up

Lastly, there are always select names set to outperform. Although the Magnificent 7 stocks have done much of the four-year bull market's heavy lifting, that hardly means these names are doomed to lag from here. Indeed, many of them are in pronounced drawdowns. At the same time, a rotation out of these stocks has capital flowing to other, sometimes sleepier, sectors.

As we'll see below, five of Wall Street's top-rated S&P 500 stocks to buy hail from the Magnificent 7. Companies from the energy, healthcare and industrials sectors are ably represented, too.

How we found analysts' top-rated S&P 500 stocks

It's well known that industry analysts are reluctant to slap Sell ratings on the names they cover. There are several reasons for this, some more defensible than others.

What's less commonly understood is that Strong Buy recommendations, while not nearly as rare as Sell calls, are in somewhat short supply, too.

If you run a screen of the S&P 500 using data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, you'll see that analysts assign a consensus Sell recommendation to only one stock.

At the other end of the ratings spectrum stands the Street's highest recommendation of Strong Buy. A total of 59 stocks made the cut there as bullish sentiment soars.

First, a note on our methodology: S&P Global Market Intelligence surveys analysts' stock recommendations and scores them on a five-point scale, in which 1.0 equals Strong Buy and 5.0 means Strong Sell.

Any score below 2.5 means that analysts, on average, rate the stock a Buy. The closer the score gets to 1.0, the stronger the Buy call.

In other words, lower scores are better than higher scores.

Have a look at the chart below to see the 59 stocks in the S&P 500 that score an elite Strong Buy recommendation from industry analysts. Investors who fear it's too late to buy Amazon.com (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) or Nvidia (NVDA) will be happy to see they easily made the list.

As much as artificial intelligence (AI) is driving capital spending and market sentiment, analysts see plenty of reasons to be bullish on names across multiple sectors. Here we highlight what Wall Street has to say about three less sexy stocks on the list this month.

Arista Networks

Arista Networks (ANET) stock is up 40% this year and Wall Street believes it has plenty more room to run.

It's not hard to understand the bulls' enthusiasm. Arista Networks makes Ethernet switches and routers used by some of the biggest cloud-services providers, such as Microsoft and Meta Platforms (META). An AI boom in full swing should provide an accelerating tailwind for ANET shares.

At the same time, Arista is diversifying its customer base by selling its wares to office buildings and university campuses. A steady stream of revenue from its subscription software business is another area of growth.

"Arista is the purest play on the AI Networking theme, leveraging its success in Cloud with hyperscalers over the last decade, and its dominant share in high-speed data center switching, into newer and increasingly larger AI networks connecting GPU clusters," writes Truist Securities analyst Matthew Niknam, who rates shares at Buy.

Smurfit WestRock

After losing about a quarter of their value in 2025, Smurfit WestRock (SW) shares are beating the broader market by about 4 percentage points this year, and bulls say they're just getting started. The company is still finding its feet.

SW was formed by the 2024 merger of Smurfit Kappa and WestRock Company, creating the world's largest paper packaging company. Smurfit WestRock's operations in 40 countries make it the revenue leader in the world of corrugated cardboard, containerboard, consumer packaging and more.

"We see long-term upside potential and expect earnings growth congruent with growth in e-commerce and growth in demand for sustainable paper and packaging goods," writes Argus Research analyst Alexandra Yates, who rates the materials stock at Buy. "We also expect to see margin growth with operational efficiency improvements in the coming quarters."

Moreover, SW expects $400 million in synergies (also known as cost cuts) as a result of the merger. A dividend yield of more than 4% should also help shares outperform in the years ahead.

Take-Two Interactive Software

Video-game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) owns some of the strongest franchises in the massive industry. From Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series to NBA 2K from 2K Games, the company doesn't lack for lucrative hits.

Shares are off by about a fifth so far this year, hurt by the delayed release of Grand Theft Auto VI. All eyes are on the November 2026 launch of the latest installment of the legendary franchise, which should be a major catalyst for the stock.

As important as GTA is to the company's fortunes, it's hardly a one-trick pony. TTWO releases a new edition of its NBA 2K game annually, while major franchises such as Red Dead Redemption, Borderlands and Civilization have historically helped it report beat-and-raise quarters.

That said, investors need to have confidence in the enduring popularity of GTA before they take the plunge into TTWO stock.

"Take-Two's prospects will always be more speculative than we'd prefer, as we think that it will always be dependent on developing the next massive hit," Morningstar notes.

Related Content

• All 30 Dow Jones Stocks Ranked: Buy, Sell or Hold?
• Highest-Yielding Dividend Stocks in the S&P 500
• 5 Core Stocks Every Investor Should Own in 2026 and Beyond