Goldman Sachs says these five stocks, including Nvidia and Wynn Resorts, have room to run

Goldman Sachs identified several buy-rated stocks it views as best positioned into year-end, highlighting Nvidia for its sustainable AI training advantage and upside to Street estimates. The firm added Wynn Resorts to its conviction buy list citing exposure to high-end customers, a Wynn Al Marjan launch in 1Q27 and strong Las Vegas/Macau catalysts (WYNN up ~46% YTD), reiterated Buy on Dick’s Sporting Goods despite Foot Locker acquisition debate (DKS up ~2% YTD), and raised Monster Beverage’s price target to $83 as it remains a preferred volume-driven growth pick (MNST up ~40% YTD); Genius Sports is noted for double-digit revenue potential and improving margins.

Analysis

Market structure: Winners are NVDA and niche data/data-rights plays (GENI) that capture AI training and monetizable sports-data feed growth; WYNN and MNST are beneficiaries of higher discretionary/travel spend and volume-driven staples respectively. Losers include legacy semicap OEMs without AI differentiation and lower-end retail exposed to discretionary pullback; pricing power concentrates at GPU vendors and venue operators serving affluent customers, compressing margins for mid-tier peers. Cross-asset: a continued NVDA-led rally pressures long-duration bonds (pushes yields +20–50bps in a risk-on leg), elevates equity implied vol in semis and raises USD vs EM FX; oil and hotel-room RevPAR-sensitive commodities may tick higher with travel demand.

Risk assessment: Tail risks include sudden AI export controls/China demand shock (20–30% rev hit for NVDA in worst-case), Macau regulatory or licensing delays that can erase WYNN’s projected upside, or commodity/tax policy hitting MNST volumes. Time horizons matter: immediate (days) earnings and options expiries drive 10–20% swings; short-term (weeks–months) hyperscaler capex cadence and WYNN project milestones (Al Marjan 1Q27) set direction; long-term (quarters–years) hinges on sustained AI adoption and proven post-acquisition synergies (DKS/Foot Locker). Hidden deps: NVDA tied to a handful of hyperscalers and fab capacity; GENI to sports-rights renewals.

Trade implications: Prioritize concentrated, time-boxed exposure to NVDA (directional) and GENI (secular) while using options to cap downside; selectively add WYNN ahead of 2026 Vegas calendar and 1Q27 UAE launch, and buy MNST for defensive growth with covered-call overlays. Pair ideas: long NVDA vs short non-AI semis ETF or a lagging peer to isolate AI-premium; options strategy — buy 3–9 month call spreads on NVDA (5–20% OTM) and LEAPS on GENI to capture multi-year compounding. Rotate modestly out of low-growth staples into tech/travel over 1–6 months, but size positions with strict stop-losses.

Contrarian angles: Consensus may underprice integration risk at DKS (synergy miss could compress EBT >200–300bps) and overprice MNST’s resilience against sugar tax/comms volatility; NVDA’s model advantage is real but priced for perfection — a single large revenue guide-down could spark a 30–40% correction. WYNN’s international expansion is binary — positive execution payoff is large, but execution failure or Macau setbacks would be asymmetric to the downside. Hedge concentrated positions (>2% portfolio) with 10% OTM puts or short correlated ETFs to protect against black-swan policy or demand shocks.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Establish a 1.5–2.0% portfolio long in NVDA via a blended approach: 50% outright shares and 50% 3–6 month call debit spreads (buy 5% ITM / sell 20% OTM) to target a 30–50% return in 3–9 months; implement a 15% stop-loss on the equity tranche or buy a 10% OTM put hedge if position >2%.
• Initiate a 1.0–1.5% long position in WYNN (shares or Jan 2027 calls) ahead of the 2026 Vegas event calendar and the Al Marjan 1Q27 catalyst; target +40% by end-2026, set a 20% trailing stop and monitor Macau revenue trends monthly for any signs of regulatory stress.
• Buy 1.0%–1.5% MNST stock for a defensive, volume-driven growth sleeve and monetize via selling 2–3% OTM covered calls on a 6–12 month cadence; exit or trim if commodity costs push gross margin down >200bps or YoY volume growth falls below consensus for two consecutive quarters.
• Allocate 0.5%–1.0% to GENI via Jan 2026 LEAPS (or long-dated calls) to capture secular sports-data monetization; re-evaluate if compounded annual revenue guidance falls below mid-teens or major client contracts are not renewed within 6 months.
• Defer building or cap exposure (>1%) to DKS until two post-acquisition quarters confirm inventory turns and gross-margin synergies; if gross margin remains >400bps above pre-pandemic levels and integration KPIs (inventory turns, vendor terms) show improvement by Q2 2026, consider initiating a 1% long position.