For Immediate Releases
Chicago, IL – February 18, 2026 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Ralph Lauren Corp. RL, Roku Inc. ROKU, Airbnb Inc. ABNB, FOX Corp. FOX and Carnival Corporation & plc CCL.
Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Buy 5 Consumer Discretionary Stocks Despite Sector’s Recent Slump
The consumer discretionary sector has witnessed moderate growth in the past year, despite a strong rally in U.S. stock markets. The situation has aggravated as the sector is in the negative year-to-date.
Structurally, the consumer discretionary sector is growth-oriented. The share prices of these companies grow over a long time period. Growth sectors are sensitive to the movement of market interest rates and are inversely related.
Over the last two years, the Fed opted for easy monetary policies with a significant cut in the benchmark lending rate. However, market participants are uncertain about the trajectory of interest rates this year. Moreover, concerns about artificial intelligence (AI)-led corporate profits also affected growth-oriented stocks.
Despite these negatives, we have selected five consumer discretionary stocks with a favorable Zacks Rank for investment. These stocks have double-digit price upside potential in the short term.
These stocks are: Ralph Lauren Corp., Roku Inc., Airbnb Inc., FOX Corp. and Carnival Corporation & plc. Each of our picks currently carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Ralph Lauren Corp.
Zacks Rank #2 Ralph Lauren has benefited from the execution of its “Next Great Chapter: Drive Plan” and robust financial performance. The plan focuses on brand…