Seeking Alpha releases its Top 10 Stocks for the second half of 2026 at a live virtual event on July 14, 2026, running from 12:00 PM ET to 1:30 PM ET.
The session is led by Steven Cress, VP of Quantitative Strategy, and covers 10 quant-driven stock ideas, the market opportunities behind them, and the themes expected to shape the rest of the year.
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Seeking Alpha Top Stocks H2 2026 Event Details
Live Webinar Featuring Steven Cress
Cress previously worked at Morgan Stanley and ran a hedge fund and a proprietary trading desk. He built the Quant system that Seeking Alpha acquired along with his firm CressCap around 2018.
Three Part Agenda
The webinar covers what has changed since January, the AI infrastructure opportunity, and 10 updated stock ideas for the second half of 2026.
Exclusive H2 Stock Picks Report
A paywalled article from Steven Cress carrying the H2 picks and the second-half outlook is published straight after the event, on July 14 at 1:30 PM ET.
Members Only Access
The event is open to Premium, Alpha Picks, and PRO subscribers. The Premium and Alpha Picks bundle therefore covers entry on both counts, and the attendance link and the report both sit behind the Premium landing page.
Seeking Alpha Top Stocks Track Record
Each list is measured from its publication date through June 29, 2026.
2023 picks: up 232% against 101% for the S&P 500 (Jan 5, 2023 to Jun 29, 2026)
2024 picks: up 329% against 60% for the S&P 500 (Jan 2, 2024 to Jun 29, 2026)
2025 picks: up 91% against 27.85% for the S&P 500 (Jan 9, 2025 to Jun 29, 2026)
2026 picks: up 70% against 8.32% for the S&P 500 (Jan 6, 2026 to Jun 29, 2026)
The half year lists are tracked separately. H2 2023 returned 191% against 69% for the index, and H2 2025 returned 77% against 24%. H2 2024 is the one clear miss, returning 1.58% against 38%.
The 2026 Top 10 Stocks at the Half-Year Mark
The January 2026 list averaged close to 70% through June 29, against 8.32% for the S&P 500 and 10.3% for the equal weighted index. Four names delivered triple digit returns.
- Micron (MU): up 267%, ranked first out of 531 IT stocks and first out of 69 semiconductors
- AMD: up 144%, ranked fifth in IT and fourth among semiconductors
- Coherent (COHR): up 109%, ranked fourth out of 21 electronic components stocks
- Ciena (CIEN): up 107%, ranked second out of 39 communications equipment stocks
- ATI: up 64%, ranked first in aerospace and defence and seventh out of 613 industrials
- Allstate (ALL): up 18.63%, ranked first out of 56 property and casualty insurers
- Celestica (CLS): up 17%, ranked seventh out of 18 electronic manufacturing services stocks
- Incyte (INCY): up 12.64%, ranked 15th out of 445 biotech stocks
- Barrick Mining: finished the half in the red, one of two losers on the list
- Willdan Group (WLDN): down 27%, the weakest name on the list
Important: the list gave background in early July. Cress noted the average return slipped from roughly 69% at the end of June to around 55% inside the first week of the month.
Current Quant Ratings on the 2026 List
Seven of the ten names still hold a Quant Strong Buy. Barrick Mining is rated Buy. Coherent and Willdan Group have moved to Hold.
Cress is direct on what that means. A Hold is not a Sell, Alpha Picks keeps a stock in the portfolio for 180 days after a downgrade to Hold, and a position is only exited outright when the rating drops to Sell or Strong Sell.
Fundamentals Behind the 2026 List
Forward revenue growth: 33% average against 8.5% for the S&P 500
Forward EPS growth: 88% average against 19.66% for the S&P 500, using Wall Street consensus forecasts
Forward P/E: 34x against 24x for the market
The higher multiple is the trade off. The list is priced above the market because its growth rate sits well above the market, and the ratings still back that, with eight of the ten names on Strong Buy or Buy.
The AI Infrastructure Theme
The clearest driver of first half performance was the buildout of AI infrastructure. Companies supplying the underlying tools and services have absorbed sustained demand, and these picks and shovels businesses sit behind several of the strongest results on the list.
Goldman Sachs now forecasts hyperscaler AI capital expenditure reaching $1.4 trillion in 2027. That spend flows to chipmakers such as Micron and AMD, to networking suppliers such as Ciena, and to the industrial and utility companies that build and maintain data centres.
Technology led every GICS sector in the first half, up 27.5% year to date.
Market Backdrop Going Into H2 2026
Rate Expectations Have Reversed
Markets priced roughly three cuts as recently as November 2025. CME data for the December FOMC meeting now shows 21% of rate traders expecting a 25 basis point hike, 41% expecting 50 basis points, and 28% expecting 75 basis points.
Sentiment Is Weak Despite Record Index Levels
The S&P 500 and Dow sit near all time highs while the CNN Fear and Greed Index reads 41, in Fear. It was 30 a week earlier and in Extreme Greed a year ago.
Energy Remains Volatile
Energy is up 18% year to date but down 7.87% over the past month. Oil traded around $74.50 during the July 9 session, having touched $120 earlier in the year.
Midterms Add Uncertainty
Across 25 midterm elections going back to 1926, the market has drawn down ahead of every single one. The recovery afterwards has been consistent, averaging 5.8% three months later, 10.5% after six months, and 14.8% after twelve.
What Pullbacks Have Meant for Quant Picks
The Quant team studied the last five market corrections since 2010, using a 15% pullback as the entry point.
S&P 500: buying at a 15% pullback and holding for two years returned close to 50%
Top 10 Quant Strong Buys: the same approach returned 117% on average
Alpha Picks shows the same pattern. Buying after the 17% drop in September 2022 returned 396%, buying after the 12% drop on April 3, 2025 returned 146%, and buying after the 8.5% drop on March 27, 2026 returned 41%.
How the Seeking Alpha Quant System Works
The Quant system grades close to 5,000 stocks every day before the market opens, working through income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and hundreds of financial metrics.
Every stock is graded against its own sector across five factors.
- Valuation
- Growth
- Profitability
- Momentum
- EPS Revisions
The underlying strategy is GARP plus, meaning growth at a reasonable price with analyst earnings revisions and momentum layered on top. Grades are sector relative rather than absolute, which is why Micron still holds an A minus for valuation after a 267% run.
Coverage requires at least one Wall Street analyst on the name, and newly listed companies are excluded for their first year.
Quant Strong Buy Performance
Over the last five years, Quant Strong Buys returned 181% against 17% for Wall Street Strong Buys and 54% for the S&P 500. The model is backtested to 2010 and regraded daily.
The Strong Buy list is not an investable product. It is a rolling portfolio of every current Strong Buy, with names dropped the moment the rating changes, and it exists to demonstrate the strategy rather than to be bought.
Seeking Alpha Quant Products
Alpha Picks: two Quant Strong Buys selected each month, on the trading days closest to the 1st and the 15th. Launched in July 2022 and up 378% since inception against 97% for the S&P 500
PRO Quant Portfolio: 30 stocks rebalanced every Monday, typically producing two to three new ideas a week. Up 54% since its June 2025 launch against 24% for the market
Quant Growth & Income: 30 dividend paying stocks, launched in June 2026. Up 6.25% against 0.44% for the Vanguard High Yield Index ETF
Full details on the methodology and holdings are set out on the Alpha Picks page.
Seeking Alpha Premium Pricing
Premium on its own is the standard access point for the Top Stocks H2 2026 event.
- List price: $299 for the first year
- Current offer: $269 for the first year, a saving of $30
- Free trial: 7 days
- Alternative entry: one month of unlimited access for $4.95
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Premium and Alpha Picks Bundle
The bundle is the second route into the event, and it clears the entry requirement twice over, since Premium and Alpha Picks subscribers both qualify.
- Premium: $299 per year at list price
- Alpha Picks: $499 per year at list price
- Combined list price: $798
- Bundle price: $639 for the first year, a 20% discount and a saving of $159
Access is immediate on subscribing. That covers the full Premium library and screeners, plus the complete Alpha Picks idea list and its deep dive research.
Important: the $639 rate applies to the first year only. Each subscription then auto renews separately at the then current annual list price until cancelled.
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Choosing Between Premium and the Bundle
Premium on Its Own
Suits investors who want the event, the research library, and the screeners, and who intend to select their own stocks from the Quant grades.
Premium and Alpha Picks Bundle
Suits investors who want the event plus a shortlist handed to them. Alpha Picks delivers two Quant Strong Buys a month rather than leaving you to screen for them.
What Seeking Alpha Premium Includes
Quant Ratings: daily factor grades on close to 5,000 stocks
Research Coverage: independent analysis on over 4,000 stocks and ETFs, including more than 1,300 that Wall Street does not cover
Unlimited Articles: full access to the article library with no paywall limits
Stock Screeners: filter by dividend safety, earnings quality, valuation, or your own criteria
Ratings Alerts: notifications when a Quant rating shifts on a stock you follow
AI Summary Reports: AI powered reporting tools built on real time data
Author Analysis: bull and bear cases from professional analysts, industry insiders, and active investors
Premium does not hand out direct recommendations. It surfaces top rated stocks for a given strategy and lets you compare names with similar traits and metrics. Alpha Picks is the service built specifically for recommendations, which is the gap the bundle closes.
Seeking Alpha Discounts
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