My Top 10 Stocks to Buy for 2026

Motley Fool names its top 10 stocks to buy for 2026, arguing that a continued S&P 500 bull run fueled by AI and lower‑rate optimism supports a blend of growth and defensive names. The selections include Nvidia (AI chips; potential multi‑trillion AI infrastructure spending), Eli Lilly (tirzepatide franchise and orforglipron phase‑3 success), American Express (premium card exposure and younger‑account growth), CoreWeave (GPU capacity provider that surged ~300% from launch then retraced), Viking Therapeutics (weight‑loss candidates in phase‑3/2), Meta (26x forward; AI/LLM investments), Abbott (Dividend King, diversified medtech), UnitedHealth (20x forward; operational fixes and raised guidance), Chewy (AutoShip >80% of net sales; profitable and debt‑free) and Amazon (32x forward; AWS at a $132bn run rate with AI tailwinds). The piece frames these picks as offering a balanced mix of safety, income and AI/weight‑loss driven growth potential, while noting Motley Fool’s disclosed positions and advertising relationships.

Analysis

Motley Fool's top-10 list for 2026 frames the S&P 500's recent strength—the benchmark advanced more than 20% in each of the past two years—as continuing, with AI and rate optimism cited as primary drivers. The selections span AI infrastructure (Nvidia), cloud and AI monetization (Amazon; AWS at a $132 billion run rate), social/AI (Meta at 26x forward), healthcare/weight‑loss leaders and hopefuls (Eli Lilly's tirzepatide franchise and orforglipron phase‑3 progress; Viking Therapeutics in phase 3/2), payments (American Express) and defensive/dividend names (Abbott, UnitedHealth). Company‑level signals include CoreWeave's extreme early volatility—up more than 300% from its March launch then retracing—Chewy's AutoShip accounting for over 80% of net sales and being profitable and debt‑free, and UnitedHealth citing cost actions and AI efficiency with a raised full‑year earnings guide and a 20x forward multiple. The recommendations emphasize potential upside from AI and weight‑loss themes but also imply concentrated thematic and event risks; disclosures note Motley Fool positions and advertising relationships that could introduce bias into the selection list.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Tilt allocations toward AI and cloud leaders (NVDA, AMZN, META) for growth exposure but limit individual position sizes given elevated multiples (26x–32x forward) and execution risk
• Maintain exposure to healthcare winners (LLY) while allocating only a small, higher‑risk sleeve to clinical‑stage names (VKTX) because regulatory and trial outcomes are binary
• Consider defensive anchors (ABT, CHWY) for yield and stability given Abbott's 50+ years of dividend increases and Chewy's AutoShip visibility, especially if rotating away from high‑beta AI names
• Monitor near‑term catalysts—Lilly regulatory moves on orforglipron, UnitedHealth guidance/efficiency execution, CoreWeave post‑IPO volatility, and AWS AI monetization—and be prepared to hedge or trim ahead of binary regulatory or trial results