Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing essentially refers to the evaluation of an enterprise not only in terms of financial performance but also related to its impact on broader stakeholders, including the environment and society. The environmental factors evaluate how a company is doing in managing carbon emissions, pollution, waste, water usage and energy efficiency. The social approach examines treatment of employees, including workplace safety and diversity, as well as management of relationships with customers and suppliers. Governance assesses the quality of leadership, board independence, ethical conduct, compliance, transparency and the effectiveness of internal control.

ESG is gaining importance due to rising awareness about environmental damage and social rights. Enterprises have been compelled to take up responsible practices as asset managers and institutions incorporate ESG into portfolio strategies. Tightened regulation aimed at curbing greenwashing, which refers to misleading publicity related to ESG policies, has boosted investor confidence. Evidently, companies with high ESG focus are better at handling regulatory, environmental, and social risks, making them desirable stocks for investors over the long term. NVIDIA (NVDA Quick QuoteNVDA - Free Report) , IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX Quick QuoteIDXX - Free Report) and Microsoft (MSFT Quick QuoteMSFT - Free Report) are three stocks that should be on investors’ radar for ESG investing in 2026.

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3 Stocks for Sustainable Returns

NVIDIA achieved 100% renewable electricity for all its global offices and controlled data centers in fiscal 2025. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company targets to reduce direct emissions by 50% for operations (Scope 1) and electricity consumption (Scope 2) by 2030. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

NVIDIA’s GPUs power eight of the top 10 most energy-efficient systems, including the top supercomputer, on the November 2024 Green500 list. NVIDIA’s GPU-accelerated computing is inherently more energy efficient than traditional computing for a number of workloads, as it is optimized for throughput, performance per watt, and certain AI workloads. NVIDIA’s Blackwell GPUs are generally more than 50 times more energy efficient than traditional CPUs for large language model AI inference workloads. NVIDIA’s DPUs consumes 30% less power as they offload essential data center networking and infrastructure functions from less-efficient CPUs.

In terms of employee diversity, at the end of fiscal 2025, NVIDIA’s global workforce comprised 78% male and 21% female, with 6% of NVDA’s workforce in the United States comprising Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino employees.

NVIDIA shares have appreciated 36.9% in the trailing 12-month period. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 increased a couple of cents to $4.66 per share, indicating 55.9% growth from the figure reported in fiscal 2025.
 

IDEXX Laboratories is a developer, manufacturer and distributor of products and services primarily for the companion animal veterinary, livestock and poultry, water testing and dairy markets. IDXX has set goals to reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions and aims to source 100% renewable electricity by 2030. The company has signed three virtual power purchase agreements to add new, clean electricity to the North American and European energy grids. IDEXX Laboratories added more electric and hybrid vehicles to its commercial fleet, which is composed of more than 35% electric and hybrid models, as per its 2024 Corporate Responsibility Report. 

In terms of social initiatives, IDEXX supports underserved communities, enabling access to veterinary care for tens of thousands of animals annually (roughly 79,000 animals in 2024. Veterinary professionals received roughly $5.5 million in continuing education credits and also offered more than 86,000 hours of training in 2024. This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company plans to improve diversity and representation of underrepresented groups, particularly in management roles.

IDXX shares have surged 66% in the trailing 12-month period. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings has been steady at $14.42 per share, indicating 11.7% growth from the 2025 consensus estimate figure of $12.93 per share. 
 

Microsoft targets to become carbon negative, water positive, and generate zero waste by 2030. Per the 2025 Environmental Sustainability Report, in fiscal 2024, the company contracted nearly 22 million metric tons of carbon removals. The company plans to replenish more water than it consumes in direct operations. The company has invested $25 million in WaterEquity’s Water & Climate Resilience Fund through the Climate Innovation Fund (CIF). MSFT’s zero waste goal transcends into the elimination of operational waste going to landfill or incineration (diverted approximately 26,000 metric tons of waste across its owned datacenters and campuses). In fiscal 2024, Microsoft diverted 88.1% of operational waste and reused or recycled 90.9% of servers and components. 

This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company is leveraging AI for Good Lab and tools like the Microsoft Planetary Computer to drive biodiversity conservation. For carbon-free electricity (CFE), Microsoft has contracted 19 GW of new renewable energy across 16 countries through power purchase agreements (PPAs), pivotal to its carbon reduction strategy. Through CIF, Microsoft has invested more than $793 million in capital in new climate technologies, expanding to 63 investments across CFE, sustainable fuels, carbon removal, and advanced building materials.

Microsoft shares have returned 14.7% in a year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 increased a couple of cents to $15.61 per share, indicating 14.4% growth from the figure reported in fiscal 2025.