Best Stocks to Buy Now for September 2025

Kevin Voigt Updated on September 2, 2025

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When looking for stocks to buy, new investors often choose names they know – but there are far more potentially profitable stocks out there beyond Meta, NVIDIA, Google or other “Magnificent Seven” stocks.

Professional and institutional investors know better, looking beyond the headlines to search for stocks that are ripe to buy, no matter the company’s size, industry or renown.

The Zacks Rank uses four factors related to earnings estimates to classify stocks into five groups, ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Strong Sell.” The list below includes some of the latest stocks given a “Buy” or “Strong Buy” rating, according to Zacks Equity Research, ranked by the largest projected “upside” value of the stock based on current price versus the average target price by industry analysts.

5 Best Stocks to Buy Today

Company (Ticker)	12 Week Price Change	Forward PE	Price	Proj EPS Growth (1 Year)	Projected Sales Growth (1Y)
Enovis (ENOV)	-6.05%	9.97	$30.84	9.15%	6.62%
Nexxen International Ltd. Sponsored ADR (NEXN)	-4.93%	9.20	$9.86	17.20%	8.65%
Integral Ad Science Holding (IAS)	10.58%	26.57	$8.96	47.10%	13.38%
Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT)	9.22%	NA	$15.32	60.78%	67.83%
Root (ROOT)	-39.69%	25.98	$88.80	105.20%	16.36%

*Updated on September 2, 2025.

Stock #1

Enovis (ENOV)

$30.84 USD -0.06 (-0.19%)

3-Year Stock Price Performance

Premium Research for ENOV

Zacks Rank This is our short term rating system that serves as a timeliness indicator for stocks over the next 1 to 3 months. How good is it? See rankings and related performance below. Zacks Rank Definition Annualized Return 1 Strong Buy 23.75% 2 Buy 17.82% 3 Hold 9.58% 4 Sell 5.28% 5 Strong Sell 2.61% S&P 500 11.30% Zacks Rank Education - Learn about the Zacks Rank Zacks Rank Home - Zacks Rank resources in one place Zacks Premium - The only way to fully access the Zacks Rank: Buy 2

Zacks Rank	Definition	Annualized Return
1	Strong Buy	23.75%
2	Buy	17.82%
3	Hold	9.58%
4	Sell	5.28%
5	Strong Sell	2.61%
S&P	500	11.30%

Zacks Industry Rank The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 X (Expanded) Industries based on their average Zacks Rank. An industry with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. The industry with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top industry (1 out of 265), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Industries. The industry with the worst average Zacks Rank (265 out of 265) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Industry Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Industry Rank: Top 27% (65 out of 245)

Zacks Sector Rank The Zacks Sector Rank assigns a rating to each of the 16 Sectors based on their average Zacks Rank. A sector with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. Zacks Sector Rank Education - Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank The sector with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top sector (1 out of 16), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Sectors. The sector with the worst average Zacks Rank (16 out of 16) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Sector Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank: Top 44% (7 out of 16)

Style Scores

The Style Scores are a complementary set of indicators to use alongside the Zacks Rank. It allows the user to better focus on the stocks that are the best fit for his or her personal trading style.

The scores are based on the trading styles of Value, Growth, and Momentum. There's also a VGM Score ('V' for Value, 'G' for Growth and 'M' for Momentum), which combines the weighted average of the individual style scores into one score.

Value Score A

Growth Score A

Momentum Score A

VGM Score A

Within each Score, stocks are graded into five groups: A, B, C, D and F. As you might remember from your school days, an A, is better than a B; a B is better than a C; a C is better than a D; and a D is better than an F.

As an investor, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success. That means you want to buy stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2, Strong Buy or Buy, which also has a Score of an A or a B in your personal trading style.

Zacks Style Scores Education - Learn more about the Zacks Style Scores

A Value A Growth B Momentum A VGM

Earnings ESP Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity. The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season. The technique has proven to be very useful for finding positive surprises. In fact, when combining a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time, while they also saw 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest. Visit the Earnings ESP Center See the Full List of Stocks To Beat Earnings: -0.25%

Market Cap:$1.77B (Mid Cap)
Projected EPS Growth:9.15%
Last Quarter EPS Growth: -2.47%
Last EPS Surprise:6.76%
Next EPS Report date:Nov. 5, 2025

Our Take:

Enovis Corporation is a medical technology company. Its range of products, services and integrated technologies fuel active lifestyles in orthopedics and beyond. Enovis Corporation, formerly known as Colfax Corporation, is based in Wilmington, DE.

Envois is a strong choice for value and growth stock investors. Enovis recently came out with quarterly earnings of $0.79 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.74 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.62 per share a year ago.

Enovis shares have lost more than 40% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of nearly 8%. Still, analysts believe there is room for the stock price to grow: The current share price early this week was 69.5% below the average analyst price target.

Stock #2

Nexxen International Ltd. Sponsored ADR (NEXN)

$9.86 USD -0.17 (-1.69%)

3-Year Stock Price Performance

Premium Research for NEXN

Zacks Rank This is our short term rating system that serves as a timeliness indicator for stocks over the next 1 to 3 months. How good is it? See rankings and related performance below. Zacks Rank Definition Annualized Return 1 Strong Buy 23.75% 2 Buy 17.82% 3 Hold 9.58% 4 Sell 5.28% 5 Strong Sell 2.61% S&P 500 11.30% Zacks Rank Education - Learn about the Zacks Rank Zacks Rank Home - Zacks Rank resources in one place Zacks Premium - The only way to fully access the Zacks Rank: Buy 2

Zacks Rank	Definition	Annualized Return
1	Strong Buy	23.75%
2	Buy	17.82%
3	Hold	9.58%
4	Sell	5.28%
5	Strong Sell	2.61%
S&P	500	11.30%

Zacks Industry Rank The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 X (Expanded) Industries based on their average Zacks Rank. An industry with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. The industry with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top industry (1 out of 265), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Industries. The industry with the worst average Zacks Rank (265 out of 265) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Industry Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Industry Rank: Top 38% (93 out of 245)

Zacks Sector Rank The Zacks Sector Rank assigns a rating to each of the 16 Sectors based on their average Zacks Rank. A sector with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. Zacks Sector Rank Education - Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank The sector with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top sector (1 out of 16), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Sectors. The sector with the worst average Zacks Rank (16 out of 16) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Sector Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank: Top 25% (4 out of 16)

Style Scores

The Style Scores are a complementary set of indicators to use alongside the Zacks Rank. It allows the user to better focus on the stocks that are the best fit for his or her personal trading style.

The scores are based on the trading styles of Value, Growth, and Momentum. There's also a VGM Score ('V' for Value, 'G' for Growth and 'M' for Momentum), which combines the weighted average of the individual style scores into one score.

Value Score A

Growth Score A

Momentum Score A

VGM Score A

Within each Score, stocks are graded into five groups: A, B, C, D and F. As you might remember from your school days, an A, is better than a B; a B is better than a C; a C is better than a D; and a D is better than an F.

As an investor, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success. That means you want to buy stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2, Strong Buy or Buy, which also has a Score of an A or a B in your personal trading style.

Zacks Style Scores Education - Learn more about the Zacks Style Scores

A Value B Growth B Momentum A VGM

Earnings ESP Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity. The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season. The technique has proven to be very useful for finding positive surprises. In fact, when combining a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time, while they also saw 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest. Visit the Earnings ESP Center See the Full List of Stocks To Beat Earnings: 0.00%

Market Cap:$636.07M (Small Cap)
Projected EPS Growth:17.20%
Last Quarter EPS Growth: 69.23%
Last EPS Surprise:52.63%
Next EPS Report date:Nov. 21, 2025

Our Take:

Nexxen International Ltd. provides advertising technology platform with expertise in video and Connected TV. Nexxen International Ltd., formerly known as Tremor International Ltd., is based in New York.

The stock is a strong current choice for Value Investors, if short-term price targets of Wall Street analysts are any indication. Going by the price targets, the mean estimate of $15.38 early this week indicates a potential upside of 53.3%.

The mean estimate comprises eight short-term price targets with a standard deviation of $1.51. While the lowest estimate of $14.00 indicates a 39.6% increase from the current price level, the most optimistic analyst expects the stock to surge 79.5% to reach $18.00.

Stock #3

Integral Ad Science Holding (IAS)

$8.96 USD -0.03 (-0.33%)

3-Year Stock Price Performance

Premium Research for IAS

Zacks Rank This is our short term rating system that serves as a timeliness indicator for stocks over the next 1 to 3 months. How good is it? See rankings and related performance below. Zacks Rank Definition Annualized Return 1 Strong Buy 23.75% 2 Buy 17.82% 3 Hold 9.58% 4 Sell 5.28% 5 Strong Sell 2.61% S&P 500 11.30% Zacks Rank Education - Learn about the Zacks Rank Zacks Rank Home - Zacks Rank resources in one place Zacks Premium - The only way to fully access the Zacks Rank: Buy 2

Zacks Rank	Definition	Annualized Return
1	Strong Buy	23.75%
2	Buy	17.82%
3	Hold	9.58%
4	Sell	5.28%
5	Strong Sell	2.61%
S&P	500	11.30%

Zacks Industry Rank The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 X (Expanded) Industries based on their average Zacks Rank. An industry with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. The industry with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top industry (1 out of 265), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Industries. The industry with the worst average Zacks Rank (265 out of 265) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Industry Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Industry Rank: Top 38% (93 out of 245)

Zacks Sector Rank The Zacks Sector Rank assigns a rating to each of the 16 Sectors based on their average Zacks Rank. A sector with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. Zacks Sector Rank Education - Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank The sector with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top sector (1 out of 16), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Sectors. The sector with the worst average Zacks Rank (16 out of 16) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Sector Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank: Top 25% (4 out of 16)

Style Scores

The Style Scores are a complementary set of indicators to use alongside the Zacks Rank. It allows the user to better focus on the stocks that are the best fit for his or her personal trading style.

The scores are based on the trading styles of Value, Growth, and Momentum. There's also a VGM Score ('V' for Value, 'G' for Growth and 'M' for Momentum), which combines the weighted average of the individual style scores into one score.

Value Score A

Growth Score A

Momentum Score A

VGM Score A

Within each Score, stocks are graded into five groups: A, B, C, D and F. As you might remember from your school days, an A, is better than a B; a B is better than a C; a C is better than a D; and a D is better than an F.

As an investor, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success. That means you want to buy stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2, Strong Buy or Buy, which also has a Score of an A or a B in your personal trading style.

Zacks Style Scores Education - Learn more about the Zacks Style Scores

B Value A Growth B Momentum A VGM

Earnings ESP Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity. The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season. The technique has proven to be very useful for finding positive surprises. In fact, when combining a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time, while they also saw 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest. Visit the Earnings ESP Center See the Full List of Stocks To Beat Earnings: 12.90%

Market Cap:$1.49B (Mid Cap)
Projected EPS Growth:47.83%
Last Quarter EPS Growth: 40.00%
Last EPS Surprise:75.00%
Next EPS Report date:Nov. 11, 2025

Our Take:

Integral Ad Science Holding LLC operates as a digital advertising verification company. It operates principally in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Singapore, Australia, France, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong and Brazil. Integral Ad Science Holding LLC is based in New York.

The stock is a strong choice for growth investors. The company is expected to earn $0.34 per share for the full year, which represents a change of +47.8% from the prior year. IAS stock has had five estimates moving higher over the past month with no negative revisions. The consensus estimate has also received a boost over this time frame, increasing 32.7%.

The share price early this week was 47.39% below the average analyst price target for the stock.

Stock #4

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (ARQT)

$15.32 USD -0.20 (-1.29%)

3-Year Stock Price Performance

Premium Research for ARQT

Zacks Rank This is our short term rating system that serves as a timeliness indicator for stocks over the next 1 to 3 months. How good is it? See rankings and related performance below. Zacks Rank Definition Annualized Return 1 Strong Buy 23.75% 2 Buy 17.82% 3 Hold 9.58% 4 Sell 5.28% 5 Strong Sell 2.61% S&P 500 11.30% Zacks Rank Education - Learn about the Zacks Rank Zacks Rank Home - Zacks Rank resources in one place Zacks Premium - The only way to fully access the Zacks Rank: Buy 2

Zacks Rank	Definition	Annualized Return
1	Strong Buy	23.75%
2	Buy	17.82%
3	Hold	9.58%
4	Sell	5.28%
5	Strong Sell	2.61%
S&P	500	11.30%

Zacks Industry Rank The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 X (Expanded) Industries based on their average Zacks Rank. An industry with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. The industry with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top industry (1 out of 265), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Industries. The industry with the worst average Zacks Rank (265 out of 265) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Industry Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Industry Rank: Bottom 37% (155 out of 245)

Zacks Sector Rank The Zacks Sector Rank assigns a rating to each of the 16 Sectors based on their average Zacks Rank. A sector with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. Zacks Sector Rank Education - Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank The sector with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top sector (1 out of 16), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Sectors. The sector with the worst average Zacks Rank (16 out of 16) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Sector Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank: Top 44% (7 out of 16)

Style Scores

The Style Scores are a complementary set of indicators to use alongside the Zacks Rank. It allows the user to better focus on the stocks that are the best fit for his or her personal trading style.

The scores are based on the trading styles of Value, Growth, and Momentum. There's also a VGM Score ('V' for Value, 'G' for Growth and 'M' for Momentum), which combines the weighted average of the individual style scores into one score.

Value Score A

Growth Score A

Momentum Score A

VGM Score A

Within each Score, stocks are graded into five groups: A, B, C, D and F. As you might remember from your school days, an A, is better than a B; a B is better than a C; a C is better than a D; and a D is better than an F.

As an investor, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success. That means you want to buy stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2, Strong Buy or Buy, which also has a Score of an A or a B in your personal trading style.

Zacks Style Scores Education - Learn more about the Zacks Style Scores

D Value A Growth A Momentum B VGM

Earnings ESP Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity. The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season. The technique has proven to be very useful for finding positive surprises. In fact, when combining a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time, while they also saw 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest. Visit the Earnings ESP Center See the Full List of Stocks To Beat Earnings: 2.70%

Market Cap:$1.86B (Mid Cap)
Projected EPS Growth:60.34%
Last Quarter EPS Growth: 35.00%
Last EPS Surprise:27.78%
Next EPS Report date:Nov. 5, 2025

Our Take:

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Inc. is late-stage biopharmaceutical company. It is focused on developing and commercializing treatments for unmet needs in immune-mediated dermatological diseases. The company's product pipeline consists of ARQ-151, ARQ-154 and ARQ-252 for multiple indications, including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis and eczema, which are in clinical stage. Arcutis Biotherapeutics Inc. is based in Westlake Village, California.

The stock is currently a strong choice for Momentum and Growth Investors. Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ARQT's full-year earnings has moved 20.9% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.

The share price early this week was 45.81% below the average analyst price target for the stock.

Stock #5

Root (ROOT)

$88.80 USD -3.42 (-3.71%)

3-Year Stock Price Performance

Premium Research for ROOT

Zacks Rank This is our short term rating system that serves as a timeliness indicator for stocks over the next 1 to 3 months. How good is it? See rankings and related performance below. Zacks Rank Definition Annualized Return 1 Strong Buy 23.75% 2 Buy 17.82% 3 Hold 9.58% 4 Sell 5.28% 5 Strong Sell 2.61% S&P 500 11.30% Zacks Rank Education - Learn about the Zacks Rank Zacks Rank Home - Zacks Rank resources in one place Zacks Premium - The only way to fully access the Zacks Rank: Strong Buy 1

Zacks Rank	Definition	Annualized Return
1	Strong Buy	23.75%
2	Buy	17.82%
3	Hold	9.58%
4	Sell	5.28%
5	Strong Sell	2.61%
S&P	500	11.30%

Zacks Industry Rank The Zacks Industry Rank assigns a rating to each of the 265 X (Expanded) Industries based on their average Zacks Rank. An industry with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. The industry with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top industry (1 out of 265), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Industries. The industry with the worst average Zacks Rank (265 out of 265) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Industry Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Industry Rank: Top 14% (35 out of 245)

Zacks Sector Rank The Zacks Sector Rank assigns a rating to each of the 16 Sectors based on their average Zacks Rank. A sector with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #1's and #2's will have a better average Zacks Rank than one with a larger percentage of Zacks Rank #4's and #5's. Zacks Sector Rank Education - Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank The sector with the best average Zacks Rank would be considered the top sector (1 out of 16), which would place it in the top 1% of Zacks Ranked Sectors. The sector with the worst average Zacks Rank (16 out of 16) would place in the bottom 1%. Zacks Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Rank Zacks Sector Rank Education -- Learn more about the Zacks Sector Rank: Top 6% (1 out of 16)

Style Scores

The Style Scores are a complementary set of indicators to use alongside the Zacks Rank. It allows the user to better focus on the stocks that are the best fit for his or her personal trading style.

The scores are based on the trading styles of Value, Growth, and Momentum. There's also a VGM Score ('V' for Value, 'G' for Growth and 'M' for Momentum), which combines the weighted average of the individual style scores into one score.

Value Score A

Growth Score A

Momentum Score A

VGM Score A

Within each Score, stocks are graded into five groups: A, B, C, D and F. As you might remember from your school days, an A, is better than a B; a B is better than a C; a C is better than a D; and a D is better than an F.

As an investor, you want to buy stocks with the highest probability of success. That means you want to buy stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2, Strong Buy or Buy, which also has a Score of an A or a B in your personal trading style.

Zacks Style Scores Education - Learn more about the Zacks Style Scores

B Value A Growth F Momentum B VGM

Earnings ESP Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) looks to find companies that have recently seen positive earnings estimate revision activity. The idea is that more recent information is, generally speaking, more accurate and can be a better predictor of the future, which can give investors an advantage in earnings season. The technique has proven to be very useful for finding positive surprises. In fact, when combining a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, stocks produced a positive surprise 70% of the time, while they also saw 28.3% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest. Visit the Earnings ESP Center See the Full List of Stocks To Beat Earnings: 0.00%

Market Cap:$1.42B (Mid Cap)
Projected EPS Growth:105.20%
Last Quarter EPS Growth: 20.56%
Last EPS Surprise:21.70%
Next EPS Report date:Oct. 29, 2025

Our Take:

Based in Columbus, Ohio, Root Inc. is the parent company of Root Insurance Company. It is a technology company revolutionizing personal insurance with a pricing model.

The stock is a strong choice for growth investors. ROOT recently came out with quarterly earnings of $1.29 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.06 per share. This compares to a loss of $0.52 per share a year ago. Root, which belongs to the Zacks Insurance - Property and Casualty industry, posted revenues of $382.9 million for the quarter ended June 2025, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 13.62%.

Root shares have grown more than 27% year to date. Still, analysts believe there is room for further growth: the share price early this week was 41.62% below the average analyst price target for the stock.

Methodology

The Zacks Rank is a proprietary stock-rating model that uses trends in earnings estimate revisions and earnings-per-share (EPS) surprises to classify stocks into five groups: #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy), #3 (Hold), #4 (Sell) and #5 (Strong Sell). The Zacks Rank is calculated through four primary factors related to earnings estimates: analysts' consensus on earnings estimate revisions, the magnitude of revision change, the upside potential and estimate surprise (or the degree in which earnings per share deviated from the previous quarter).

Zacks builds the data from 3,000 analysts at over 150 different brokerage firms. The average yearly gain for Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks is +23.62% per year from January, 1988, through June 2, 2025.

Average target price is based on average short-term price targets offered by analysts who cover the respective companies. For this list, only companies in the top 50% of industries that have average daily trading volumes of 100,000 shares or more and at least five analysts covering the stock were considered. All information is current as of market open, Sept. 2, 2025.

Common Questions of New Investors

Where to Buy Stocks

To invest in stocks, you must open a brokerage account, fund the account and purchase stocks through your selected brokerage. Investors may also purchase stocks through a financial advisor or an automated robo advisor. Some publicly traded companies also offer a direct stock purchase plan, where you can purchase shares directly from the company.

Alternative Ways to Invest in Stocks

You can also invest in stock funds, such as mutual funds, index funds and exchange-traded funds, where the fund managers select the pool of stocks that follow an investing strategy. These funds may broadly cover an entire index, such as the S&P 500, or specific types of stocks, such as industries like technology and energy companies, company size such as small cap companies, or location like international companies.

How to Start Investing in Stocks Today

It’s easy to start investing by opening an online brokerage account. Opening a standard brokerage account takes about 20 minutes and you’ll need to have some personal information ready, such as your social security number and your bank details to fund your account.

You’ll need to decide whether to open a taxable account (most common), a tax-deferred retirement account such as a traditional IRA or a tax-free retirement account such as a Roth IRA, which is funded with after-tax dollars, but qualified withdrawals are tax-free. A margin account allows for borrowing to purchase stocks and is best for experienced traders.

Set goals before you begin investing – determine how much you can afford to invest and your tolerance for risk.

What to Look for When You Buy Stocks?

The goal in all equities investment is to buy low and sell high, growing your wealth over time. Researching the companies to invest in is key – what kind of product or service do they offer? How do they compare with competitors? How fast are they growing? Does the stock pay regular dividends to shareholders? Does the stock help diversify your portfolio by giving you exposure to a market segment you currently don’t hold?

Understanding fundamental analysis can help determine whether the stock has the potential for growth at its current purchase price. Factors that can help determine that include earnings per share (EPS), price-to-earnings ratio and PE growth. Technical analysis is used looking at statistical patterns to potentially predict future price moves. Some investors may look for a growth and income strategy, looking for stocks with solid revenues that pay good dividends, or a value strategy, looking if a current stock price is below what their revenue, EPS and other factors suggest.

Analysts also often look for the momentum of a stock by looking at moving averages of a stock's closing price over a 50-day, 100-day or 12-month trailing time period to determine signals whether to buy or sell a stock.