Stock markets are experiencing a downturn as bearish investor sentiment intensifies following the rollout of new tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico today. These tariffs are widely expected to hinder economic growth and drive up prices, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve’s ability to lower interest rates in the near term. In such an uncertain environment, retail investors face significant challenges in selecting the right stocks and achieving strong returns.

One way to cut short this task is to follow brokers’ recommendations. Stocks like Ingevity Corporation NGVT, Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. STRL, NVIDIA Corporation NVDA, PayPal Holdings, Inc. PYPL and American Airlines Group Inc. AAL are worth buying.

As brokers directly communicate with top management, they have more insight into what is happening in a particular company. They assess a company’s publicly available documents and even attend conference calls. Brokers have more understanding of the overall sector and industry. They place company fundamentals against the current economic backdrop to determine how a particular stock will fare as an investment.

When brokers upgrade a stock, one can easily rely on their judgment. Yet, depending on broker upgrades is not enough to build your investment portfolio. A few other factors should be taken into account to ensure steady returns.

Selecting the Winning Strategy

We have a screening strategy that will help in your search for potential winners:

Broker Rating Upgrades (Four Weeks) of 1% or More: The screen selects stocks that have witnessed broker rating upgrades of 1% or more over the last four weeks.

Current Price Greater Than $5: The stocks must trade above $5.

Average 20-Day Volume Greater Than 100,000: A large trading volume guarantees that the stock is easily tradable.

Zacks Rank Equal to #1 or 2: Despite good or bad market conditions, stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) have a proven record of success. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

VGM Score of A or B: Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2, offer the best upside potential.

5 Stocks With Upgraded Broker Ratings

Based in North Charleston, SC, Ingevity is a global producer of high-performance activated carbon materials and specialty chemicals. NGVT provides innovative solutions through proprietary formulated products.

NGVT’s 2025 earnings are expected to rise 26.8% year over year. Ingevity, which sports a Zacks Rank #1, has witnessed a 25% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Headquartered in The Woodlands, TX, Sterling Infrastructure is engaged in the provision of e-infrastructure, transportation and building solutions. STRL operates through three segments: E-Infrastructure Solutions, Transportation Solutions and Building Solutions.

Sterling Infrastructure’s 2025 earnings are projected to grow 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. The company, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 at present, has witnessed a 50% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Based in Santa Clara, CA, NVIDIA is the worldwide leader in visual computing technologies and the inventor of the graphic processing unit, or GPU. Over the years, NVDA’s focus has evolved from PC graphics to artificial intelligence (AI) based solutions that now support high-performance computing (HPC), gaming and virtual reality (VR) platforms.

NVIDIA’s fiscal 2026 earnings are expected to rise 42.1% year over year. NVDA, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has witnessed a 2.2% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

PayPal, based in San Jose, CA, is one of the largest online payment solutions providers. PYPL has a strong product portfolio and two-sided platform, enabling it to offer smooth and secure transaction facility to customers and merchants. 

PayPal’s 2025 earnings are projected to grow 8% on a year-over-year basis. The company, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, has witnessed a 2.3% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Based in Fort Worth, TX, American Airlines is one of the largest airlines internationally. AAL’s primary business is to provide passenger and cargo services.

American Airlines’ 2025 earnings are projected to rise 23.5% on a year-over-year basis. The company, carrying a Zacks Rank #1 at present, has witnessed a 4.8% upward revision in broker ratings over the past four weeks.

Get the remaining stock on the list and start putting this and other ideas to the test. It can all be done with the Research Wizard stock picking and backtesting software. 

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance

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NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (STRL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Ingevity Corporation (NGVT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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