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Robinhood Markets and Albemarle have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 13, 2026 – Zacks Equity Research shares Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD - Free Report) as the Bull of the Day and Albemarle Corporation (ALB - Free Report) asthe Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on The Home Depot Inc. (HD - Free Report) , Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW - Free Report) and Williams-Sonoma Inc. (WSM - Free Report) .

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

Robinhood Markets, Inc. is steadily building its credentials as a financial services giant and a Wall Street technology innovator.

HOOD posted a strong beat-and-raise Q2 that sent its earnings outlook surging, landing it a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Robinhood's earnings and revenue growth outlook highlights its expanding portfolio.

The free trading app has become a legitimate rival to Fidelity and other online brokerages, serving a broader range of everyday retail investors, sophisticated traders, and more.

HOOD, which joined the S&P 500 in September 2025, boasts 13 different business lines that generate ~$100 million or more in annualized revenue, ranging from options and crypto trading to its credit card unit, prediction market, and more.

Robinhood boosted its in-house artificial intelligence offerings, including rolling out cutting-edge agentic trading accounts to fend off broader fears that AI will eat away at its business and the wider online brokerage and financial services industry.

The stock, which has nearly doubled the Zack Tech sector and blown away the S&P 500 since its 2021 IPO, is down ~30% from its October 2025 peaks.

Robinhood's average Zacks price target implies 25% upside from its current levels, and it would need to climb roughly 43% to return to its all-time high. Plus, HOOD is on the verge of a potential technical breakout. 

Now might be time for investors to consider buying the beaten-down financial technology stock for long-term upside and near-term breakout potential, especially if more money rotates out of AI stocks trading at all-time highs to start third-quarter earnings season. 

Best Non-AI Technology Stocks to Buy Now: Robinhood

Robinhood is closer to a legitimate peer of Fidelity, Charles Schwab, and other online brokerage titans than a meme-stock trading app that users treat like a casino. The firm offers retirement accounts, crypto trading, futures, options, a browser-based desktop trading platform built for active traders, wealth management, prediction markets (to take on Polymarket), and beyond.

HOOD currently operates 13 business lines that each generate ~$100 million or more in annualized revenues, double its total from 2023. The company's two newest big businesses are its credit card unit and its Robinhood Legend—a browser-based desktop trading platform built for active and intermediate-to-advanced traders.

The trading app powerhouse announced a splashy new AI initiative on September 29, aiming to "put the power of hedge funds in every trader's pocket."

The company unveiled its new Robinhood Agents, its agentic AI tools, at its 2026 summit. HOOD said that its "fully embedded AI experience can analyze the market, build strategies, and trade on your behalf around the clock." On top of that, its "Agent Apps will give your Robinhood Agents another layer of intelligence with institutional-grade data and specialized tools from leading third party providers."

Furthermore, Robinhood announced plans to launch 24/7 weekend trading for equities and beyond for eligible U.S. customers. Its new AI-boosted efforts and weekend expansion plans are part of its mission to become "the #1 place for active traders."

The firm more than tripled its revenue between 2022 and 2025, soaring from $1.36 billion to $4.47 billion. HOOD also went from losing -$6.99 a share in 2022 to posting GAAP earnings of +$2.06 per share last year.

Most recently, Robinhood's total platform assets jumped by 32% YoY to $369 billion in the second quarter, "driven by continued Net Deposits and higher equity valuation." Its net deposits climbed by an annualized growth rate of 28% in Q2, with its Average Revenue Per User up 24% to $187.

Meanwhile, its total revenue climbed 32% YoY, and Gold Subscribers rose 39% to 4.8 million. Robinhood Gold users pay ($5/mo or $50/yr) for offerings including 3.6% APY on eligible brokerage cash, bigger instant deposits, lower commissions on futures trades, and other perks.

The growing financial services company grew its GAAP earnings by 48% in the second quarter, crushing our Q2 earnings estimates by 41% in the process.

Robinhood's improving earnings outlook helps it earn a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) right now. Its recent stretch of positive revisions extends a turnaround that started this summer after its EPS outlook slipped, sparking its pullback. And its Most Accurate estimates came in above its already improved Zacks consensus.

Looking ahead, Robinhood is projected to grow its EPS by over 4% in 2026 and 37% in FY27 to reach $2.94 a share. The nearby chart shows that HOOD is projected to grow its earnings to roughly $3.50 a share in 2028.

On the top line, Robinhood is projected to grow its revenue by 19% in 2026 and 29% in 2027 to reach $6.82 billion, up from $4.47 billion in 2025. 

Buy HOOD Stock Now On the Dip and Hold?

Robinhood stock has climbed ~210% since its 2021 IPO, including a massive downturn that was fueled by the 2022 tech-driven bear market. The stock soared ~1,090% over the last three years, blowing away the Magnificent 7, including Nvidia, and many other AI stocks.

The Wall Street tech stock's run includes its ~30% drop from its early October 2025 records. This means the stock offers ~43% upside if it ever returns to its peaks. Meanwhile, its average Zacks price target implies 25% upside from its current price of roughly $109 a share.

HOOD stock completed the bullish golden cross at the end of July, with its 50-day moving average crossing above its 200-day. More recently, the stock experienced a long-term bullish signal when its 21-week moving average moved above its 50-week in late September.

Robinhood stock is finding buyers 50-day and its longer-term 21-week moving average. The bulls also held their ground at its previous peaks throughout 2026.

HOOD's selloff, mixed with its strong earnings outlook, has it trading at a 90% discount to its highs at 39.5X forward 12-month earnings.

Robinhood trades at a 70% discount to its highs in terms of its price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio at 1.6 vs. the Zacks Tech sector's 1.2.

Bear of the Day:

Albemarle Corporation, the world's largest lithium producer, has suffered as lithium prices have tanked ~80% from their late 2022 highs.

Slowing electric vehicle sales, increased lithium supply, and other headwinds are weighing on Albemarle stock. The company's earnings revision fell after it provided disappointing guidance when it released its Q2 results in early August.

Albemarle's downward earnings revisions earn the stock a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Should Investors Stay Away from Albemarle Stock Right Now?

ALB is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based specialty chemicals company with leading positions in attractive end markets around the world. Its portfolio serves customers across an array of areas including petroleum refining, consumer electronics, energy storage, construction, and automotive.

Albemarle is growing its position in the lithium industry, which offers the firm upside across electric vehicle batteries, energy storage systems, and more.

Lithium-ion batteries have been used in electronics such as smartphones for a long time. EV batteries are many orders of magnitude larger than an iPhone battery, often stretching from the front wheels to the back.

Lithium will play a role in the future of technology, energy, and transportation. Albemarle is poised to capitalize on that expansion over the long haul.

Unfortunately for ALB, the broader lithium mining industry is facing some serious near-term hurdles that are proving difficult to overcome. Lithium prices and lithium stocks, including Albemarle, skyrocketed on the back of massive Covid-era EV growth projections (sparked, in part, by U.S. government efforts that are no longer in place).

EV growth has cooled off substantially in the U.S. and beyond, even in the critical Chinese market. ALB and the entire lithium industry were priced for and prepared for massive EV industry growth that has not materialized yet.

ALB's earnings outlook dropped 13% for Q3 and 36% for the fourth quarter since its Q2 release. Its recent downward EPS revisions land the stock a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Albemarle stock is down 55% in the past five years while the S&P 500 surged 85%. And its Chemical–Diversified indsutry is in the bottom 17% of 247 Zacks industries.

Longer-term structural demand from EVs and energy storage remains positive, but the near-term price environment reflects the imbalance sparked in the post-Covid lithium and EV craze.

On top of that, Albemarle operates across highly cyclical areas of the economy, and its stock price performance over the last 20 years reflects that volatility.

Additional content:

How Are Strategic Investments Shaping Home Depot's Future?

The Home Depot Inc. continues to strengthen its competitive position through investments in technology, supply-chain capabilities, digital platforms and professional customer services. These initiatives are aimed at improving operational efficiency, enhancing customer convenience and capturing greater market share despite persistent housing market challenges. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, the company invested approximately $880 million in capital expenditure and expects full-year capital spending to represent 2.5% of sales.

A key investment priority is creating a seamless interconnected shopping experience. Home Depot continues to deploy technology-enabled tools, including its AI-powered Magic Apron, which helps customers and associates locate products and navigate projects efficiently. These efforts contributed to an 11% increase in digitally enabled sales during the quarter, marking five consecutive quarters of double-digit growth. Investments in fulfillment capabilities have also improved delivery speeds, with more than 65% of in-stock parcel deliveries completed within one day.

Home Depot is simultaneously strengthening its Pro ecosystem through investments in specialized services, order management and distribution capabilities. The integration of SRS and GMS is expanding product availability and cross-selling opportunities. Notably, 90% of stores completed at least one SRS-facilitated sale over the trailing 12 months.

Looking ahead, these investments position Home Depot to deepen customer engagement, improve fulfillment efficiency and strengthen its professional contractor relationships. However, housing affordability pressures and subdued demand for larger discretionary projects remain important considerations for realizing their full benefits.

Strategic Investments of HD's Peers: LOW & WSM

Home Depot's peers, Lowe's Companies Inc. and Williams-Sonoma Inc., are also prioritizing strategic investments in technology, digital capabilities, supply-chain efficiency and customer experience to strengthen their competitive positions and support long-term growth.

Lowe's is strengthening its long-term growth prospects through strategic investments in digital capabilities, Pro services and operational efficiency. The company invested $542 million in capital expenditure in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, supporting its Total Home strategy. Investments in AI-powered Mylow, enhanced fulfillment capabilities and online platforms contributed to 15.7% digital sales growth. Meanwhile, the FBM and ADG acquisitions are expanding its reach among larger Pro customers.

Williams-Sonoma is strengthening its growth prospects through investments in artificial intelligence, digital capabilities, retail expansion and supply-chain efficiency. The company invested $58 million in capital expenditure in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, with full-year spending projected at $275 million. AI-powered shopping assistants Olive and Otto are enhancing customer engagement and personalization. Meanwhile, investments in e-commerce, inventory management and retail infrastructure support long-term growth and operational efficiency.

HD's Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of Home Depot have lost 13.8% in the past three months compared with the industry's decline of 12%.

From a valuation standpoint, HD trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49X compared with the industry's average of 17.05X.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HD's fiscal 2026 and 2027 EPS implies year-over-year growth of 2.3% and 6.8%, respectively. The company's EPS estimate for fiscal 2026 has moved up 0.1% in the past seven days. Meanwhile, the consensus estimate for fiscal 2027 EPS has been unchanged in the past 30 days.

Home Depot currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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