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Buy 3 S&P 500 Stocks Backed by Double-Digit Returns in the Past Month
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Key Takeaways
DELL, KEYS and CIEN logged double-digit gains in a month despite 2026 S&P 500 volatility and downturn.
DELL holds $34.1B in AI server orders, with strong enterprise demand and new PowerEdge platforms.
CIEN raised fiscal 2026 revenue outlook to $5.7B - 6.1B on strong cloud, DCI and AI infrastructure demand.
The S&P 500 Index — Wall Street’s most observed stock index — witnessed an astonishing bull run in the past three years. The massive growth of artificial intelligence (AI) across the world, a low-interest rate regime and accommodative monetary policies pursued by the Fed and several other major central banks and a precipitous decline in the inflation rate helped U.S. stock markets to flourish.
However, the index suffered in 2026 owing to concerns related to the continuity of AI trade and geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, resulting in a crude oil price surge that could push up the inflation rate and lead to serious doubts over whether the Fed will continue its interest rate cuts and accommodative monetary policies.
Despite these headwinds, we have narrowed our search to three S&P 500 stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank that have provided double-digit returns in the past month. These are: Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL - Free Report) , Keysight Technologies Inc. (KEYS - Free Report) and Ciena Corp. (CIEN - Free Report) . Each of our picks carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The chart below shows the price performance of our three picks in the past month.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Dell Technologies Inc.
Zacks Rank #2 Dell Technologies benefits from strong demand for AI servers driven by the ongoing digital transformation and heightened interest in generative AI applications. DELL secured $34.1 billion in AI server orders, surpassing shipments and building a strong backlog. Strong enterprise demand for AI-optimized servers aids DELL.
A robust partner base that includes the likes of NVIDIA, Google, and Microsoft has been a major growth driver. AI server demand remained robust, contributing $9 billion to fourth-quarter 2025 revenues. Dell’s enterprise AI customer base surpassed 4,000, with broad adoption across industries.
DELL’s PowerEdge XE9680 AI-optimized server is very much in demand. The launch of advanced AI-optimized servers including the PowerEdge XE9780 and 9780L platforms supporting up to 256 NVIDIA HGX B300 GPUs per rack, the XE9712 with NVIDIA GB300 NVL72, and the XE7745 supporting NVIDIA RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell GPUs has been noteworthy.
In the last reported quarter, DELL launched the PowerEdge XE9712 supporting NVIDIA's NVL72 GB200. It launched the Dell Infrastructure Rack Sobel system, IR7000 and 5000 in both 21-inch and 19-inch versions, providing up to 96 GPUs in a rack and 786 GPUs in a scalable unit. The strong demand trend bodes well for DELL’s long-term prospects.
Dell Technologies has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 24.2% and 23.4%, respectively, for the current year (ending January 2027). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 12.5% over the last 30 days.
Keysight Technologies Inc.
Zacks Rank #2 Keysight Technologies is gaining traction from strong industry-wide growth backed by the solid adoption of its electronic design and test solutions. KEYS’ growing investment in AI-driven advanced nodes, high-bandwidth memory and silicon photonics is induced by high AI-performance requirements driving growth in the semiconductor vertical.
Strong demand for AI data-center network solutions and applications is a tailwind for KEYS. Management’s focus on expanding its business through collaborations with established sector players is positive.
Apart from strength in the 5G domain, KEYS’ efforts in other emerging growth markets like Internet of Things (IoT) and high-speed data centers, bode well for the top line. Particularly, management’s focus on Automotive and Energy, and Aerospace and Defense domains augur well for the long haul. In fact, growth in revenues from Aerospace, Defense and Government end-market deserves a special mention.
Keysight Technologies has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 22.8% and 16.9%, respectively, for the current year (ending October 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 4.2% over the last 30 days.
Ciena Corp.
Zacks Rank #1 Ciena has been benefiting from accelerating AI-led demand from cloud and service provider customers. Powered by strong cloud and service provider momentum, CIEN gained 2 points of optical market share year to date and expects further gains in 2026.
Increased network traffic, higher demand for bandwidth, and the adoption of cloud architectures remain the key growth drivers as CIEN expects to improve its profitability with a balanced mix of new and existing customers.
Networking Platforms' growth is fueled by accelerating Optical demand, a sharp rise in RLS activity, and strong Routing and Switching traction from DCI deployments. CIEN lifted its fiscal 2026 revenue outlook to $5.7-$6.1 billion, nearly 24% growth at the midpoint, up from the prior 17%, on strong demand from cloud, DCI, and AI infrastructure.
Ciena has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 27.1% and more than 100%, respectively, for the current year (ending October 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 2.1% in the last seven days.
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Buy 3 S&P 500 Stocks Backed by Double-Digit Returns in the Past Month
Key Takeaways
The S&P 500 Index — Wall Street’s most observed stock index — witnessed an astonishing bull run in the past three years. The massive growth of artificial intelligence (AI) across the world, a low-interest rate regime and accommodative monetary policies pursued by the Fed and several other major central banks and a precipitous decline in the inflation rate helped U.S. stock markets to flourish.
However, the index suffered in 2026 owing to concerns related to the continuity of AI trade and geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East, resulting in a crude oil price surge that could push up the inflation rate and lead to serious doubts over whether the Fed will continue its interest rate cuts and accommodative monetary policies.
Despite these headwinds, we have narrowed our search to three S&P 500 stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank that have provided double-digit returns in the past month. These are: Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL - Free Report) , Keysight Technologies Inc. (KEYS - Free Report) and Ciena Corp. (CIEN - Free Report) . Each of our picks carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The chart below shows the price performance of our three picks in the past month.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Dell Technologies Inc.
Zacks Rank #2 Dell Technologies benefits from strong demand for AI servers driven by the ongoing digital transformation and heightened interest in generative AI applications. DELL secured $34.1 billion in AI server orders, surpassing shipments and building a strong backlog. Strong enterprise demand for AI-optimized servers aids DELL.
A robust partner base that includes the likes of NVIDIA, Google, and Microsoft has been a major growth driver. AI server demand remained robust, contributing $9 billion to fourth-quarter 2025 revenues. Dell’s enterprise AI customer base surpassed 4,000, with broad adoption across industries.
DELL’s PowerEdge XE9680 AI-optimized server is very much in demand. The launch of advanced AI-optimized servers including the PowerEdge XE9780 and 9780L platforms supporting up to 256 NVIDIA HGX B300 GPUs per rack, the XE9712 with NVIDIA GB300 NVL72, and the XE7745 supporting NVIDIA RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell GPUs has been noteworthy.
In the last reported quarter, DELL launched the PowerEdge XE9712 supporting NVIDIA's NVL72 GB200. It launched the Dell Infrastructure Rack Sobel system, IR7000 and 5000 in both 21-inch and 19-inch versions, providing up to 96 GPUs in a rack and 786 GPUs in a scalable unit. The strong demand trend bodes well for DELL’s long-term prospects.
Dell Technologies has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 24.2% and 23.4%, respectively, for the current year (ending January 2027). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 12.5% over the last 30 days.
Keysight Technologies Inc.
Zacks Rank #2 Keysight Technologies is gaining traction from strong industry-wide growth backed by the solid adoption of its electronic design and test solutions. KEYS’ growing investment in AI-driven advanced nodes, high-bandwidth memory and silicon photonics is induced by high AI-performance requirements driving growth in the semiconductor vertical.
Strong demand for AI data-center network solutions and applications is a tailwind for KEYS. Management’s focus on expanding its business through collaborations with established sector players is positive.
Apart from strength in the 5G domain, KEYS’ efforts in other emerging growth markets like Internet of Things (IoT) and high-speed data centers, bode well for the top line. Particularly, management’s focus on Automotive and Energy, and Aerospace and Defense domains augur well for the long haul. In fact, growth in revenues from Aerospace, Defense and Government end-market deserves a special mention.
Keysight Technologies has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 22.8% and 16.9%, respectively, for the current year (ending October 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 4.2% over the last 30 days.
Ciena Corp.
Zacks Rank #1 Ciena has been benefiting from accelerating AI-led demand from cloud and service provider customers. Powered by strong cloud and service provider momentum, CIEN gained 2 points of optical market share year to date and expects further gains in 2026.
Increased network traffic, higher demand for bandwidth, and the adoption of cloud architectures remain the key growth drivers as CIEN expects to improve its profitability with a balanced mix of new and existing customers.
Networking Platforms' growth is fueled by accelerating Optical demand, a sharp rise in RLS activity, and strong Routing and Switching traction from DCI deployments. CIEN lifted its fiscal 2026 revenue outlook to $5.7-$6.1 billion, nearly 24% growth at the midpoint, up from the prior 17%, on strong demand from cloud, DCI, and AI infrastructure.
Ciena has an expected revenue and earnings growth rate of 27.1% and more than 100%, respectively, for the current year (ending October 2026). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year’s earnings has improved 2.1% in the last seven days.