Episode summary
3 HALO Stocks to Buy Now
Zacks Market Edge
· · 24 min · Hosts: Tracey Ryniec, Mark Zinski, Neena Mishra, Ethan Feller
Summary
The host argues that the AI buildout is creating a second wave of winners outside the obvious chip and software names: so-called HALO stocks, or hard-asset, low-obsolescence businesses. She says these companies are benefiting from the money flowing into construction, power, data centers, and industrial infrastructure, even if they are not direct AI plays. The theme is diversification as much as growth, because these businesses are tied to the same spending boom but are not fully dependent on technology sentiment.
She highlights Caterpillar, Masttec, and United Rentals as the three names to watch. Caterpillar is benefiting from construction equipment demand and its power-and-energy segment, especially industrial gas turbines for data centers. Masttec is seeing strong demand in clean energy, infrastructure, power delivery, and pipeline work, with record backlog and raised guidance. United Rentals is a steadier, rental-based way to play the same capital-spending cycle, with record quarterly revenue and a new buyback plan.
Across all three, the host emphasizes strong earnings beats, raised full-year guidance, and rich but still workable valuations relative to their growth. Her main point is that investors should look beyond the headline AI names and own the companies doing the physical buildout.
Key takeaways
- The host says HALO stocks are benefiting from the AI revolution because trillions of dollars are being spent on real-world infrastructure and equipment.
- Caterpillar posted quarterly revenue above $20 billion for the first time, and the host says its power-and-energy segment is being helped by data-center turbine demand.
- Masttec's backlog and earnings outlook were raised, and the host says clean energy, infrastructure, and power delivery are driving the upside.
- United Rentals reported a record second quarter, and the host says it remains a slower-growth but still attractive way to own the construction cycle.
- The host argues these names offer diversification away from pure tech while still capturing AI-related capital spending.
Notable quotes
“Over a trillion dollars is being spent on the AI revolution. That's money going directly into the economy”
“The money that is being spent on AI revolution is real and it's going somewhere and it's going to these companies who are doing the buildout”
How the episode opens
Stocks, bonds, ETFs, straight out of downtown Chicago. This is Zach's Market Edge. Welcome to Zach's Market Edge, the podcast about investing in your life.
I'm your host, Tracy Reinick, and I'm a senior stock strategist at Zach's Investment Research, and this is my podcast, and I'm going solo again to talk about the Halo stocks. We haven't talked about them in a couple of months, I want to say, but they're back in the spotlight. And maybe you're getting a little bit tired of the AI stocks, the tech names, the chips, the memory, and you're looking for somewhere new to park your money.
But that also has been booming. Let's just call it what it is. It's got strong growth the same way as the tech stocks do.
So, we've had a lot of earnings rolling in and I've been watching them. So, I picked out three Halo stocks to talk about this week. And you know what they are?
Halo, hard assets, low obsolescence. It's a hard thing to say, so we're just going to call it Halo. And what does that mean?
It means they've got the hard assets. So they're actually making something or doing something and they own something. They're not just um making software for instance or running a social media platform.
They actually are making say equipment that kind of thing and they own it. So uh that's the hard asset part. Low obsolescence means they can't really be uh you know get got rid of and one of the companies has been around for decades and is the leader in its field.
Actually I would say all three of these are old economy stocks. They've been around a long time and now is their time in the spotlight because I don't think any of these companies have ever quite seen uh earnings sales like they're seeing here in 2026.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- ai buildout
- stock picks
- halo stocks
Watch the episode
Watch “3 HALO Stocks to Buy Now” on YouTube
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