Episode summary
HALO Stocks are the Must-Own Stocks of 2026
Zacks Market Edge
· · 28 min
Summary
The host argues that a new market theme is emerging around “halo stocks”: companies built on hard assets with low obsolescence that AI is unlikely to disrupt. She frames this as an old-economy rotation away from the Magnificent 7 and toward infrastructure, transportation, commodities, and industrial manufacturers. The key appeal is that these businesses own or depend on assets the economy still needs, even if AI changes how they are operated.
She highlights five names that fit the theme: Union Pacific, CH Robinson Worldwide, Nutrien, Lear, and Exxon Mobil. In each case, the host focuses on earnings revisions, valuation, and where the business sits in the cycle. Some names, like Nutrien and Lear, are seen as early turnaround plays with improving earnings expectations. Others, like Exxon and the railroads, are more established hard-asset businesses that have already started to rally on the theme, even if valuations are no longer cheap.
Across the episode, the argument is that investors should look for cyclically weak but asset-heavy companies before their earnings fully recover. The host expects commodities and industrials to benefit if the market keeps favoring tangible assets over software and AI-driven businesses.
Key takeaways
- The host says “halo stocks” are hard-asset businesses with low obsolescence that AI cannot easily disrupt.
- Union Pacific (UNP) is presented as a hard-asset railroad with improving revenue growth, but the host says the forward P/E near 21 is not cheap.
- CH Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) is cited as a trucking and logistics turnaround play as freight conditions improve.
- Nutrien (NTR) is framed as a cyclical fertilizer stock where analysts have raised estimates and the host sees green shoots.
- Lear (LEA) is described as an auto-supplies turnaround with earnings expected to accelerate in 2026 and 2027.
- Exxon Mobil (XOM) is the host’s preferred big oil name, but she says it looks pricey after its 2026 breakout.
Notable quotes
“These are the things that cannot be disrupted by AI. We're still going to need oil rigs”
“These are the infrastructure type stocks in many industries, not just in building or construction”
“these are the stocks everybody's going into”
“the MAG 7 is over. Halo is in”
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 this week I'm going solo to talk about what is might possibly be the new Fang. I don't know. It's not actually company names, however, but people are starting to talk about the halo stocks.
That's what they're calling them. And it means hard assets. I have to look at my notes.
Low obsolescence. That's a mouthful, right? Just remember Halo.
But the most important part I feel is the hard assets part. And this is kind of another name for old economy. These are the infrastructure type stocks in many industries, not just in building or construction, but the infrastructure of actual uh hard assets like automobiles or transportation networks, airplanes, oil and natural gas and the oil rigs.
These are the things that cannot be disrupted by AI. We're still going to need oil rigs. Even if AI somehow ends up operating it in some way, you're still going to need someone to build the rig and install the rig and probably my bet is even to operate the rig.
But, uh, these are the stocks everybody's going into. So, how do you find these? Is it just random?
kind of like my new other uh magnificent stocks episode that I just did here on the podcast. That was kind of random, too, where I just uh knew of some stocks that were hitting hitting new highs that were breaking out that had great fundamentals and high growth rates. So, it's kind of similar for the hard asset stocks, but they do fit into some categories that uh you could imagine.
And so, it's easy to kind of figure out what those categories are and then find some stocks within there.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- ai disruption
- hard assets
- must-own stocks
- 2026 outlook
Companies and tickers mentioned
- HALO
- Halozyme Therapeutics
Watch the episode
Watch “HALO Stocks are the Must-Own Stocks of 2026” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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