Morgan Stanley Calls These 2 Stocks 'Top Picks' for 2026 -- Here’s Why

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Morgan Stanley Calls These 2 Stocks 'Top Picks' for 2026 -- Here’s Why.

investing ideas :: 10hrs ago :: source - TipRanks

By TipRanks

Stocks have been acting like the war barely happened. Despite a six-week conflict with Iran, a surge in oil prices, and nonstop geopolitical noise, the S&P 500 has clawed its way back toward record levels. What looked like the start of a deeper slide is now being treated as a correction that may already be close to running its course.

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That shift is exactly what Morgan Stanley’s chief equity strategist, Michael Wilson, has been pointing to. In his latest note, he argues the market actually entered its correction back in October, and the current setup is starting to favor a move back toward a bullish trend in the months ahead.

“We think much of the adjustment for geopolitical risk, private credit concerns, and AI disruption has already taken place. What remains is largely about rates and policy, which we believe will be resolved as the transition in Fed leadership is completed and other central banks back off from what appears to be a misplaced focus on inflation from the energy spike that are almost always temporary. Markets aren’t typically so gracious as to offer multiple opportunities, which is why we have encouraged investors to be early and assume the worst is behind us as markets begin to look forward before it’s obvious and certain,” Wilson opined.

With that in mind, Morgan Stanley analysts are already zeroing in on opportunities. The firm has identified a group of “Top Picks” for the year ahead, and using TipRanks’ database, we’ve dug into two of those names to understand what’s driving the bullish stance. Let’s dive in.

Intuit, Inc. (INTU)

We’ll start with a look at Intuit, the well-known personal finance and small business software platform. The company is well known for its suite of products, which include QuickBooks, TurboTax, Credit Karma, and MailChimp. Through these products, Intuit allows its customers to maintain ledgers, handle tax filings and compliance, manage personal credit and finances, and set up email marketing.

Intuit’s platform and products, through their various services, make available a set of key benefits for the company’s customers. These are the ability to keep more of their own money in their pockets; to help customers focus on the work that matters; and to ensure that customers can make financial decisions with confidence.

What it all comes down to is that Intuit has taken some of the most vital financial processes in our private lives and made them easier to use. The company brings automation to a set of strong record-keeping tools and makes them available to both professionals and non-professionals, to facilitate intelligent decision making while meeting and solving financial challenges.

Intuit’s products are popular, and the company has built itself into a $102 billion leader in the financial software niche. The company has over 18,000 employees in 21 countries, and in its fiscal year 2025 brought in over $18.8 billion in total revenue.

In its last set of financial releases, which covered fiscal 2Q26, Intuit showed a top line of $4.7 billion, up 17% year-over-year and beating the forecast by almost $119 million. The company’s non-GAAP earnings, at $4.15 per share, were up 25% from the prior-year quarter and were 47 cents per share better than had been expected. We should note that shares in Intuit are down 44% so far in calendar year 2026. The steep drop is mainly driven by investor concerns about how AI tools could disrupt Intuit’s traditional business model, a trend that has been described as the “SaaSpocalypse.”

However, for Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss, Intuit presents a strong case for continued revenue and earnings growth, with an attractive current stock price. He writes, “The April quarter print likely represents the next major catalyst, with room for added clarity on the durability of TurboTax growth, further proof points around Assisted Tax and MidMarket Accounting & Services, and the potential for upward revisions to FY26 estimates. In the meantime, the recent IRS tax and web trends data are screening positively for TurboTax and Credit Karma… Given the combination of an attractive entry point, credible product-cycle support for a return toward 20% growth, and a clean upcoming catalyst, we are elevating Intuit to Top Pick.”

Following from this, Weiss puts an Overweight (i.e., Buy) rating on the stock, along with a $580 price target that points to a 58% upside potential in the next 12 months. (To watch Weiss’ track record, click here)

Overall, Intuit has a Strong Buy consensus rating from the Street, based on 23 recent reviews that break down to 19 Buys and 4 Holds. The shares are currently trading for $366.80, and their $579.67 average target price closely matches the MS view. (See INTU stock forecast)

Equinix (EQIX)

The next stock on our list is a REIT with a unique twist. Equinix works in the colocation data market, providing data center facilities with rack space and server connections for rent. The company’s tenants gain access to high-end data center infrastructure, capable of scaling to any applications, without the need to maintain the hardware.

As a REIT, or real estate investment trust, Equinix depends on its property portfolio – which currently includes more than 280 data centers in 77 metro areas across six continents. The company’s facilities support well over half-a-million interconnections, for more than 10,500 customers.

The AI boom has been good for Equinix, and the company has seen its share price gain by 39% so far this year – and it has consistently generated over $2 billion in total quarterly revenue for the last two years. Equinix, as is typical for REITs, pays out a regular dividend, and the last declaration was for a $5.16 common share payment that went out on March 18. At that rate, the dividend annualizes to $20.64 and gives a modest, but real, forward yield of nearly 2%.

Looking at Equinix’s results, we see that the company had $2.42 billion in revenue in 4Q25, the last period reported. That figure was up 7% year-over-year, but it came in just under the forecast, missing it by $36 million. At the bottom line, Equinix reported a diluted AFFO (adjusted funds from operations – a key metric for REITs) of $8.91 per share, amounting to 12.5% growth vs. the year-ago quarter.

Cameron McVeigh covers this stock for Morgan Stanley, and sees the top and bottom line gains as important factors. McVeigh says of the stock, “We continue to see opportunity for revenue and AFFO/share growth to sustain near double-digit growth from ’26E to ’29E. We see multiple drivers of demand for compute, and ramping capacity coming online to capture this inflecting demand. The opportunity to expand capacity at a higher rate is a growing opportunity for AFFO/ share growth. In addition, we remain bullish on the network effects and stickier tenant base enabled by its uniquely scaled interconnection ecosystem, a defendable moat. We see an attractive 2:1 bull/bear skew on EQIX shares, instating as Top Pick.”

Quantifying this stance, the analyst sets an Overweight (i.e., Buy) rating and complements that with a $1,250 price target that suggests a one-year gain of 18%. (To watch McVeigh’s track record, click here)

The 22 recent analyst reviews on these shares include 19 Buys and 3 Holds, for a Strong Buy consensus rating. The stock has a current selling price of $1,057.37 and an average target price of $1,074.37, implying the shares will stay rangebound for the time being. (See EQIX stock forecast)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

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